Bill Introduced in Memory of Local Animal Rights Advocate Joy Freedman

October 8, 2021 JMORE Staff

Joy I. Freedman: "People who have never ‘been owned’ by a dog or cat can have a tough time relating to us. When that bond is created, it can never be broken.” (File photo)

A bill was recently introduced during a work session of the Baltimore County Council in memory of Joy I. Freedman, a veteran local dog trainer/behaviorist who passed away May 30 of colon cancer at the age of 52. It will be voted on at a legislative session on Monday, Oct. 18, at 6 p.m.

If passed, the Joy Freedman Care for Cats Act would formalize the county’s trap-neuter-return pilot program for stray and feral cats. Baltimore County Animal Services has conducted the program — which humanely traps cats who live outdoors — for the past six years. Stray cats are sterilized and vaccinated, tagged on their ear to identify they have been spayed or neutered, and returned to the area where they were trapped.

A Baltimore native and Towson resident, Freedman was the owner and operator of 4 Paws Pet Services, a pet care company founded in 1996 and based in Lutherville-Timonium. She also wrote Jmore’s Critter Corner column from 2016 to 2018. In addition, she was a founding member of the Baltimore County Animal Services Advisory Commission and a lifelong animal rights advocate.

The overall objective of the Joy Freedman Care for Cats Act would be to reduce the volume of roaming cats in communities and protect them from rabies.

“The Baltimore County Animal Services Advisory Commission is deeply grateful to County Executive [John] Olszewski and his team for creating this legislation, codifying TNR in Baltimore County,” said Deborah Stone Hess, chair of the Animal Services Advisory Commission, in a statement.

Freedman, who graduated from Pikesville High School in 1986, studied at the National Institute of Canine Service and Training. She worked as an adjunct instructor at Anne Arundel Community College. She was also a member of the Baltimore Animal Hearing Board and sat on the Animal Advisory Commission of Baltimore County.

Over the years, Freedman offered advice about animal care on such media outlets as CNN, Baltimore Magazine, City Dog Magazine, Shore Dog Magazine, and on local TV and radio programs.

Freedman was known as a committed advocate for animal rights and a fierce lover of pets. In her debut column for Jmore, she wrote, “You open the door, and there they are. Wagging their tails or sitting by the window, wondering where you have been without them. Perplexed about how you managed a whole day without their guidance. Our pets are our walking/jogging buddies, confidants, nurses and best friends. People who have never ‘been owned’ by a dog or cat can have a tough time relating to us. When that bond is created, it can never be broken.”