Catnip Nation's August Report: A Long Island Feral Colony is in Danger

In June I brought you the second installment of a series of posts by Tina Traster, Producer and Director of the documentary film Catnip Nation. This month Tina tells us about a feral colony at a town dump that is in jeopardy. I'm hoping all parties involved can come to terms for the sake of the cats. How nice would it be for all cats to live safe and happy lives? I hope this feral colony is safe and is being taken care of.

Dawn




Hello again, from the team at Catnip Nation, a documentary that sheds light on the unsung and unseen heroes who take care of feral cats, and the adversity they face. In early summer, we were strategizing on how to wrap up the existing stories that Catnip Nation will tell. And then Facebook alerted us to a truly heinous story taking place in Hempstead, Long Island, and so our film expanded, again. But that’s okay, because we believe it’s our job to expose the unnecessary cruelty that befalls feral cat colonies and their caretakers at the hands at heartless politicians.

Here’s the background. Rockaway resident Stanley Lombardo, a retired town employee, had been stationed at the Oceanside Sanitation Transfer Station (the town dump) for more than a decade. Over the time span, he had tended to a colony of nearly 40 cats. Clearly this was a passion for him. For eight months after he retired, he continued to come to the site to feed the cats.

Then, after a political tangle with Town Supervisor Anthony Santino, he was banned. He showed up one day and dump employees said “sorry Stanley, you’re no longer allowed to be here.” Stunned, Stanley turned to town animal activists, who have jammed town hall meetings, protested in front of the town dump on Saturdays, and have been pressing the New York Humane Society and the ASPCA, to let Stanley back on the site.

What he and others have been told is that “another employee” is feeding the cats, but nobody’s buying that. Activists have been demanding access. They want to see videos of the cats on the site. They’ve told the town they would supply cameras. But all they’ve gotten is a big push back. The town even went so far as to close down the town dump to residents, who used to be able to go on site for mulch and other items.

The politicians are using familiar tactics. They say the location is a dangerous worksite and non-employees cannot be on site. They say non-employees entering the area could be injured or killed by moving heavy machinery, which is a liability for the town. Why wasn’t that the case before Lombardo and Santino had a falling out?





Activists fear the cats, who have been TNRed, and were living a peaceful life, are either endangered, or have already been swept out or rounded up and euthanized. The Nassau County SPCA says it visited the site on June 25th and “found no problems.” Again, residents, activists, and Lombardo do not believe this. A few residents have risked arrest and have snuck onto the property. (We have footage!!) And they say the area is void of any feline life. A recent interloper reports the grass where the cats used to roam is now filled with ducks. (Nature abhors a vacuum). Activists are continuing to pressure the Humane Society to take a good look at what is really happening here, but they will not be satisfied until they are either provided with video footage or they can access the site themselves.
Indeed maybe there are cats there. Maybe someone is throwing them kibble. But the heartlessness of this situation boils down to Lombardo’s agony. A feral cat colony caretaker invests tremendous emotional capital in a colony. Every colony caretaker knows this. Essentially they are his cats. They give him a sense of purpose. And the cats, in kind, view him as the human they trust. The town used the cats for political payback. Sad. 

Please weigh in. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

Tina Traster is a socially-conscious, award-winning journalist, author, and filmmaker. Her 30-minute documentary, This House Matters, is an examination on historic preservation in the Hudson Valley. The film has screened at the YoFi Film Festival, the Kingston Film Festival, the Hoboken International Film Festival, and the Nyack Film Festival. Traster's work has appeared in scores of newspapers, magazines and literary journals including The New York Times, The New York Post, Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, The Atlantic, Redbook, Family Circle, Parade, Time Out New York, Audubon, Ski Magazine and many others. She is the author of the award-winning memoir Rescuing Julia Twice: A Mother's Tale of Russian Adoption and Overcoming Reactive Attachment Disorder. Since 2006, Traster has written the "Burb Appeal"column for The New York Post.