08/07/2025
HAPPY CAT SANCTUARY - CHRIS, A VOLUNTEER AT THE WAREHOUSE, SHARES A PERSONAL STATEMENT ABOUT CAT #627
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The following is a personal firsthand account from a volunteer at the warehouse who began to help immediately following the fire at HCS. Chris' accounts are lived experiences. The following was very difficult for her to write and share. Please show respect. Please click the link above for the entire post with images and videos.
"Hi, my name is Chris. I was a volunteer at the warehouse that housed the survivors of the devastating fire at The Happy Cat Sanctuary on March 31, 2025, in Medford, Long Island. I dedicated nearly two months of my life to being there, almost every single day, because I truly cared about the well-being of those cats. My role focused heavily on their daily care and medical needs, and during that time, I witnessed more than just animal suffering; I witnessed systemic negligence and deeply concerning behavior by those claiming to be in charge.
I’m sharing my story in small anecdotes to bring attention to those failures, and to honor the lives and dignity of the animals who couldn’t speak for themselves. This is the story of one of those cats, HCS #627.
On or around May 15, Cat #627 had been seen by a vet and was diagnosed as being symptomatic for anemia, though I am not sure whether or not further diagnostics were done to find out the cause for the anemia. The cat was supposed to go into foster care at that time but that never happened. Instead, this ailing cat was sent back to the warehouse, a facility not equipped for fragile medical cases, where Cat #627’s condition only worsened.
On the morning of May 21, at exactly 8:43 AM, I arrived and was immediately told by other volunteers that Cat #627 appeared extremely lethargic and unwell. I rushed over to his/her enclosure and saw it for myself that this cat was in clear distress. I knew they needed emergency medical attention, fast.
But getting a cat to the vet at Happy Cat wasn’t simple. Volunteers like me had to go through an unnecessary and inefficient chain of command: first alert a senior volunteer, who would then contact Marilyn Gales, who would then contact the vet. This process created dangerous delays. Based on prior experience, I had already learned that the fastest way to help a cat was to avoid going through Lisa altogether.
I called Erica and told her I had an emergency. She FaceTimed me, and we began arguing over which hospital the cat should go to. Erica insisted on VEG in Commack (over 30 minutes away), while I begged for the cat to be taken to Atlantic Coast, just minutes from the warehouse. Time was critical. This cat, already fragile from anemia, couldn’t endure a long car ride. I had already seen what happened to another cat in a similar situation, and I was terrified history was repeating itself.
Eventually, after a tense back-and-forth, it was decided the cat would go to Atlantic Coast. Another volunteer, Michelle, brought the cat there. She returned an hour later and told us the hospital was keeping the cat for observation.
Throughout the day, I kept trying to get updates but was met with silence. Then I received a message from another volunteer, Tate, saying we needed to advocate for the cat to not be needlessly euthanized and that she was working on finding a medical foster. She said Marilyn Gales would keep her updated.
But by 8:08 PM, after hours of radio silence, I called Atlantic Coast myself. The receptionist told me they had tried to reach someone three times but no one answered. The cat was ready to be discharged, they said, but the vet needed to speak with someone because the cat required medication.
I immediately told this in a group text with Erica and Tate. Tate replied, confused, asking, “Who said the cat needed medication?” When I told her it was the receptionist at Atlantic Coast, she said Marilyn had told her the cat was fine, that nothing was wrong, no medication was needed, and that the cat would be picked up. I offered to go get the cat myself, but was told no. Donna was going to foster the cat.
That cat sat in the ER for over 12 hours. No one picked him/her up until 10:54 PM. To this day, I don’t know who actually picked him/her up. And I still don’t know if he/she got the medication he/she needed. And more alarming, I never heard anything about the outcome of that cat ever again.
That experience left me shaken and full of questions. After nearly two months of volunteering, I was already growing uneasy with what I had been witnessing day in and day out, but this incident made everything painfully clear. If this cat was “fine,” then why did he/she stay in an emergency hospital for more than 12 hours? Why did the hospital say he/she needed medication, only for Marilyn to claim otherwise? Why was no one answering the phone when the hospital called? Why did I, a volunteer, have to fight so hard just to make sure a sick animal received the bare minimum care?
I came to Happy Cat Sanctuary to help save lives. But what I witnessed instead was dysfunction, negligence, and a heartbreaking failure of responsibility by the very people who claimed to be these animals' protectors. Cat #627 deserved better. They all did.
I have attached some digital files in support of my story.
I will continue to share my experiences in the hopes that by doing so, I will give each and every one of the cats I encountered, a voice."
