Happy Cat Sanctuary: How Christopher Arsenault's dream of helping felines grew, then turned to tragedy
“Billy” was rescued after a fire that took place in Medford at Happy Cat Sanctuary. He and other cats are still being cared for at a warehouse in Holbrook. Credit: Newsday/Drew Singh
Christopher Arsenault slept in an 8- by 12-foot bedroom with a microwave and a mini fridge in his five-bedroom home.
There, each day, he and his staff of three cared for 400 cats.
Before his death in a fire that consumed the house and killed more than 150 of the cats, his home and yard were outfitted with shelves where the cats could rest and climb. He lived with no kitchen, living room or furniture except for the mattress he slept on, surrounded by his favorite felines. The cats roamed through his house and property, and some were kept in enclosures.
That act of kindness was born from grief. Arsenault, 65, started the Happy Cat nonprofit following the death of his son in a 2006 motorcycle crash.
But he went on to grow the modest sanctuary into a $1.6-million-a-year nonprofit organization, devoting a lion's share of the money to care for the cats. Now the fate of the sanctuary and its property are at the center of a legal battle between Happy Cat Inc., which operated it under Arsenault, and his daughter, Kristen, 38, of Port Washington.
A GoFundMe for the nonprofit has raised more than $840,000 toward the care of the surviving cats. Kristen Arsenault has also established a GoFundMe for her father's trust that has raised $8,000, which she says will go also go toward care of the cats and rebuilding a sanctuary.
It is a divisive new legal chapter for an organization that Arsenault had said he was inspired to create after he came across a colony of 30 sick kittens in Great Neck that he nursed back to health.
Those cats joined the four Arsenault already had in his Roslyn home, before he quit his job as a New Jersey train conductor and a volunteer Port Washington firefighter and moved to Medford where he transformed the home into the sanctuary.
Arsenault did not take a salary in exchange for renting his house in the quiet Medford neighborhood for $2,000 per month to the organization to care for the cats, according to a financial audit filed with the state attorney general.
"I know it sounds crazy to most people, but they come first," he told Newsday in 2016. "I feed them, take care of them before I take care of myself."
Arsenault also sacrificed his life for the cats, running back into his house as he tried to rescue some of the cats in a March 31 fire.
"Everything he had, he gave to those animals," said Lisa Jaeger, who headed up the rescue effort after the fire and said she serves on the nonprofit’s board.
Brookhaven fire marshals said the cause of the fire was undetermined, but not suspicious, noting the use of propane heaters in the home.
Arsenault's death left a legacy of devotion to the cats. In the aftermath of the fire, those who worked with him, and other volunteers, have risen to the task of recovering the deceased cats, including 50 found in the basement, and caring for the 250 survivors.
Volunteers have been trapping and removing cats from the Medford property for the past three weeks. Most of the cats are feral, and rescuers now face the daunting challenge of finding them new homes. They have placed nearly 100 cats with about 20 rescue organizations on Long Island, including 20 that went to North Shore Animal League America.
About 170 cats, friendly and feral, remain housed at a Holbrook warehouse, but have not been cleared yet for adoption. While feral cats are not used being handled, some can be socialized over time and eventually placed in homes.
Many cats who survived needed medical treatment from burns or respiratory infections. Several feral cats have feline HIV, a disease they can live with but affects their immune system, and two dozen have leukemia, which is eventually fatal. But most of the cats are healthy, Jaeger said.
The surviving cats have been treated for the past three weeks almost daily by East Northport Animal Hospital veterinarian Jason Heller.
"It was such a tragedy," he said. "For what his commitment was to these cats, to have a loss of life, it was unbelievable."
Arsenault had made plans to move his sanctuary upstate, tired of complaints from neighbors and Brookhaven Town officials citing him for illegal structures on his property, building code violations and an "unsafe finished space" in his basement that was eventually removed.
Already, about 86 cats had been moved to a 31-acre property in Montgomery County. Kristen Arsenault said she wants to honor her father’s wishes to maintain the sanctuary upstate but it's unclear if and when a new one will be built on Long Island.
The sanctuary took in cats from the neighborhood and throughout Long Island. Some were beloved felines who came there because their owners had died or could no longer care for them, either because of health reasons, or because they were leaving their homes.
It also housed feral cats rescued from foreclosed properties, hoarding situations or cat colonies, organizers said. In 2022, it received a $10,000 state grant to rescue 10 cats from Jones Beach.
The nonprofit said it specialized in the "rehabilitation of at-risk cats, including cats that have been shot at, hoarded, abused, neglected, and targeted by gangs for use as bait in dog fighting rings." It spayed and neutered the cats it received.
The organization usually requested about $3,000 per cat it rescued, but that fee was rarely paid in full, officials said.
"We asked for donations, but if it was dire, Chris never turned anyone away. He took so many cats without taking money. That’s how we ended up with so many," Jaeger said. "It was manageable at that point, but it was getting bigger and bigger, and he needed a bigger facility."
The fee went to cover food, medical expenses, vaccinations, and shelter maintenance costs, according to the nonprofit, which estimated each cat cost about $8,000 during the time it stayed at the sanctuary.
The Suffolk County SPCA had visited the home at least 10 times over the years, but never found any violations, said SPCA Chief Roy Gross. Investigators most recently visited the facility in 2023 but never placed animals in the sanctuary.
"There’s obviously always a concern if there are too many animals on a property, but it’s not illegal," Gross said. "There are not any restrictions for the amount of cats you can have, depending on if they are treated or housed properly."
Each inspection showed the cats were living in acceptable conditions — which under the law requires animals have food and water in clean conditions and space large enough to stand and stretch comfortably, Gross said.
Officials investigated multiple complaints and provided notices to improve care, but did not find any mistreatment, Gross said.
"It appears very much that he cared for these animals and this was his life. Animals were more important to him than anything," Gross said. "He was not a hoarder. Would I consider it ideal? No, but it’s not illegal."
The Suffolk County district attorney’s BEAST Unit — the Biological, Environmental and Animal Safety Team — visited the facility three times responding to complaints prior to the fire, but did not find any violations, Jaeger said. District attorney officials also monitored the rescue of cats after the fire.
The district attorney’s office would not comment on the facility.
As the number of cats he took in swelled, so did donations and expenses.
The tax-exempt registered nonprofit reported more than $1.6 million in annual fundraising and donations but also incurred about $1.5 million in expenses caring for the animals, according to 2023 IRS tax records.
Expenses included $100,000 in professional fundraising fees, $275,000 in pet supplies and food, $100,000 in shelter housing costs, $72,000 in veterinary costs and nearly $500 in crematory expenses, according to the 2022 audit report.
The organization, Happy Cat Inc., listed a four-member board and reported more than $1 million in assets at the end of 2023 and had received more than $5 million in donations over the previous five years. That year, Arsenault reported collecting $11,000 in compensation.
The property is now in dispute after the nonprofit sued Kristen Arsenault, who is the lone trustee of her father's estate. The nonprofit is claiming control of a trust that specified that her father’s personal assets, including the property, be turned over to the organization if it was still operating. Kristen Arsenault argued the organization does not have a legal sitting board. She also filed a complaint with the attorney general’s office.
She said volunteers still have access to the home for rescue operations and she has no control of the organization's assets.
"It breaks my heart that instead of coming together to honor my father’s memory and protect the animals he loved, this tragedy has been met with division, secrecy and resistance," Kristen Arsenault said in a statement released earlier this month. "My father deserved better. These animals deserve better. And I will not stop until both receive the justice and dignity they are owed."
Volunteers say they will continue caring for the cats until they can be adopted or placed in a new sanctuary. Heller said he will continue to help treat any remaining cats rescued by the sanctuary, including the 86 cats upstate.
"These are tough cats," Heller said, holding a purring cat rescued from the sanctuary named Billy. "I’m hoping to continue to help them in the future so we can get these cats where they need to go, which is their forever home."
With Anastasia Valeeva
Christopher Arsenault slept in an 8- by 12-foot bedroom with a microwave and a mini fridge in his five-bedroom home.
There, each day, he and his staff of three cared for 400 cats.
Before his death in a fire that consumed the house and killed more than 150 of the cats, his home and yard were outfitted with shelves where the cats could rest and climb. He lived with no kitchen, living room or furniture except for the mattress he slept on, surrounded by his favorite felines. The cats roamed through his house and property, and some were kept in enclosures.
That act of kindness was born from grief. Arsenault, 65, started the Happy Cat nonprofit following the death of his son in a 2006 motorcycle crash.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- Before he was killed in a fire, Christopher Arsenault grew his cat sanctuary in Medford into a $1.6 million a year nonprofit organization, devoting a lion's share of the money to care for the cats.
- Now the fate of the sanctuary and its property are at the center of a legal battle between Happy Cat Inc., which operated the sanctuary under Arsenault, and his daughter, Kristen, 38, of Port Washington.
- A GoFundMe for the nonprofit has raised more than $840,000. Kristen Arsenault has also established a GoFundMe for her father's trust that has raised $8,000, which she says will go toward care of the cats and rebuilding a sanctuary.
But he went on to grow the modest sanctuary into a $1.6-million-a-year nonprofit organization, devoting a lion's share of the money to care for the cats. Now the fate of the sanctuary and its property are at the center of a legal battle between Happy Cat Inc., which operated it under Arsenault, and his daughter, Kristen, 38, of Port Washington.
A GoFundMe for the nonprofit has raised more than $840,000 toward the care of the surviving cats. Kristen Arsenault has also established a GoFundMe for her father's trust that has raised $8,000, which she says will go also go toward care of the cats and rebuilding a sanctuary.
It is a divisive new legal chapter for an organization that Arsenault had said he was inspired to create after he came across a colony of 30 sick kittens in Great Neck that he nursed back to health.
Those cats joined the four Arsenault already had in his Roslyn home, before he quit his job as a New Jersey train conductor and a volunteer Port Washington firefighter and moved to Medford where he transformed the home into the sanctuary.
Arsenault did not take a salary in exchange for renting his house in the quiet Medford neighborhood for $2,000 per month to the organization to care for the cats, according to a financial audit filed with the state attorney general.
Christopher Arsenault, with cats he cared for at his Happy Cat Sanctuary in Medford on Dec. 6, 2016. Credit: James Carbone
"I know it sounds crazy to most people, but they come first," he told Newsday in 2016. "I feed them, take care of them before I take care of myself."
Arsenault also sacrificed his life for the cats, running back into his house as he tried to rescue some of the cats in a March 31 fire.
"Everything he had, he gave to those animals," said Lisa Jaeger, who headed up the rescue effort after the fire and said she serves on the nonprofit’s board.
Brookhaven fire marshals said the cause of the fire was undetermined, but not suspicious, noting the use of propane heaters in the home.
Legacy of devotion
Arsenault's death left a legacy of devotion to the cats. In the aftermath of the fire, those who worked with him, and other volunteers, have risen to the task of recovering the deceased cats, including 50 found in the basement, and caring for the 250 survivors.
Volunteers have been trapping and removing cats from the Medford property for the past three weeks. Most of the cats are feral, and rescuers now face the daunting challenge of finding them new homes. They have placed nearly 100 cats with about 20 rescue organizations on Long Island, including 20 that went to North Shore Animal League America.
About 170 cats, friendly and feral, remain housed at a Holbrook warehouse, but have not been cleared yet for adoption. While feral cats are not used being handled, some can be socialized over time and eventually placed in homes.
Many cats who survived needed medical treatment from burns or respiratory infections. Several feral cats have feline HIV, a disease they can live with but affects their immune system, and two dozen have leukemia, which is eventually fatal. But most of the cats are healthy, Jaeger said.
The surviving cats have been treated for the past three weeks almost daily by East Northport Animal Hospital veterinarian Jason Heller.
"It was such a tragedy," he said. "For what his commitment was to these cats, to have a loss of life, it was unbelievable."
Arsenault had made plans to move his sanctuary upstate, tired of complaints from neighbors and Brookhaven Town officials citing him for illegal structures on his property, building code violations and an "unsafe finished space" in his basement that was eventually removed.
Already, about 86 cats had been moved to a 31-acre property in Montgomery County. Kristen Arsenault said she wants to honor her father’s wishes to maintain the sanctuary upstate but it's unclear if and when a new one will be built on Long Island.
No one turned away
The sanctuary took in cats from the neighborhood and throughout Long Island. Some were beloved felines who came there because their owners had died or could no longer care for them, either because of health reasons, or because they were leaving their homes.
It also housed feral cats rescued from foreclosed properties, hoarding situations or cat colonies, organizers said. In 2022, it received a $10,000 state grant to rescue 10 cats from Jones Beach.
The nonprofit said it specialized in the "rehabilitation of at-risk cats, including cats that have been shot at, hoarded, abused, neglected, and targeted by gangs for use as bait in dog fighting rings." It spayed and neutered the cats it received.
The organization usually requested about $3,000 per cat it rescued, but that fee was rarely paid in full, officials said.
"We asked for donations, but if it was dire, Chris never turned anyone away. He took so many cats without taking money. That’s how we ended up with so many," Jaeger said. "It was manageable at that point, but it was getting bigger and bigger, and he needed a bigger facility."
The fee went to cover food, medical expenses, vaccinations, and shelter maintenance costs, according to the nonprofit, which estimated each cat cost about $8,000 during the time it stayed at the sanctuary.
The Suffolk County SPCA had visited the home at least 10 times over the years, but never found any violations, said SPCA Chief Roy Gross. Investigators most recently visited the facility in 2023 but never placed animals in the sanctuary.
"There’s obviously always a concern if there are too many animals on a property, but it’s not illegal," Gross said. "There are not any restrictions for the amount of cats you can have, depending on if they are treated or housed properly."
Each inspection showed the cats were living in acceptable conditions — which under the law requires animals have food and water in clean conditions and space large enough to stand and stretch comfortably, Gross said.
Officials investigated multiple complaints and provided notices to improve care, but did not find any mistreatment, Gross said.
"It appears very much that he cared for these animals and this was his life. Animals were more important to him than anything," Gross said. "He was not a hoarder. Would I consider it ideal? No, but it’s not illegal."
The Suffolk County district attorney’s BEAST Unit — the Biological, Environmental and Animal Safety Team — visited the facility three times responding to complaints prior to the fire, but did not find any violations, Jaeger said. District attorney officials also monitored the rescue of cats after the fire.
The district attorney’s office would not comment on the facility.
Donations, expenses rising
As the number of cats he took in swelled, so did donations and expenses.
The tax-exempt registered nonprofit reported more than $1.6 million in annual fundraising and donations but also incurred about $1.5 million in expenses caring for the animals, according to 2023 IRS tax records.
Expenses included $100,000 in professional fundraising fees, $275,000 in pet supplies and food, $100,000 in shelter housing costs, $72,000 in veterinary costs and nearly $500 in crematory expenses, according to the 2022 audit report.
The organization, Happy Cat Inc., listed a four-member board and reported more than $1 million in assets at the end of 2023 and had received more than $5 million in donations over the previous five years. That year, Arsenault reported collecting $11,000 in compensation.
The property is now in dispute after the nonprofit sued Kristen Arsenault, who is the lone trustee of her father's estate. The nonprofit is claiming control of a trust that specified that her father’s personal assets, including the property, be turned over to the organization if it was still operating. Kristen Arsenault argued the organization does not have a legal sitting board. She also filed a complaint with the attorney general’s office.
She said volunteers still have access to the home for rescue operations and she has no control of the organization's assets.
"It breaks my heart that instead of coming together to honor my father’s memory and protect the animals he loved, this tragedy has been met with division, secrecy and resistance," Kristen Arsenault said in a statement released earlier this month. "My father deserved better. These animals deserve better. And I will not stop until both receive the justice and dignity they are owed."
Volunteers say they will continue caring for the cats until they can be adopted or placed in a new sanctuary. Heller said he will continue to help treat any remaining cats rescued by the sanctuary, including the 86 cats upstate.
"These are tough cats," Heller said, holding a purring cat rescued from the sanctuary named Billy. "I’m hoping to continue to help them in the future so we can get these cats where they need to go, which is their forever home."
With Anastasia Valeeva
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
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