A first hand account and statement from Patty Burkhart
July 8, 2025
The following is a statement from Patty Burkhart, a rescuer and trapper based on Long Island, obtained from her personal Facebook page. The images were personally captured by Patty during her visit to the shelter referenced in her statement:
“In case anyone knows anyone who has been searching for cats after the fire here are the cats I visited at North Fork Peconic in late April.
For the record all cats were alive and inside when I visited.
Soon after my visit one cat died. It may have been moved from the Aquebogue location to Peconic and put into isolation area.
Three remained at Aquebogue location, in cages, and terrified.
As some of you know know I worked tirelessly to get the board of HCS to take back all of these cats and reunite them with other HCS cats. I did it quietly. I did not post until the two cats were released and I felt I had no other choice.
I adivsed the attorney I would be posting so no surprises.
These 14 cats should not be nor ever should have been in a place where the shelter director releases cats. And one died and we still do not know why.
Sadly, this board refused to take these cats back even with the attorney advocating for their safe return.
Alas, a couple of weeks ago two HCS cats were released outside into the shelter’s Aquebogue location feral colony.
Marilyn went out there recently, and she could have easily taken back the remaining 11 cats but she did not.
She left them there in the hands of someone who has a history of releasing cats outside.
What would Chris think about this board?
And two cats outside. Tonight. Let that sink in.
And all cats could have been safe if anyone had listened to my pleas and warnings for two months. All of this was preventable.
Lisa gave away more than 100 cats to shelters (I kept a list as the madness began on day of Chris’s funeral). No cats should have been given to shelters just two weeks after deep trauma. And assessed? How do you responsibly and intelligently do that so quickly. The answer is you cannot. It was reckless to give them away and reckless for shelters to take them no matter how well meaning. What would Chris think?
I think he would be deeply troubled and disappointed.
Here are the cats I saw on that late April day.
Their faces say: why am I here? I’m scared. Please help me.
And this shelter director thought the best way to help a traumatized cat was to release him or her outside. That is one shelter director who needs to resign.
If I were the HCS board I would have sued her ass. What she did and does is not only morally reprehensible but illegal. Of all the lawsuits pending, this is one that actually would not be frivolous because someone put Chris’s cats in harm’s way, instead of allegedly hacking fb pages or missing chickens or other human nonsense.
The tortie is on the catio – not a great catio and she is alone and old.
This board needs to take stock and ask themselves: would Chris be proud of this???
I’m gonna say a resounding no.”
-Patty Burkhart, July 8, 2025