Meet The Man Who Transformed His Home Into A Haven For 300 Cats
Meet the man who transformed his home into a haven for 300 cats complete with hammocks, heated perches, and roast chicken dinners for the pampered residents.
Chris Arsenault, 58, opened his cat sanctuary to cope with the grief of l.o.s.i.n.g his son and has devoted his life to rescuing and caring for abandoned kitties. The retired train conductor has given his entire house and garden to his feline friends – apart from his small 8-by-12-foot bedroom where he sleeps and eats. And Arsenault spends his days refilling water bowls, mucking out litter trays, mopping floors, and rustling up roast chicken dinners for his furry friends.
Arsenault, who lives in Medford, New York, said: “I don’t find it overwhelming even though there are 300 cats now. I truly believe that if you are passionate about something you can handle anything. I really love what I do.”
Stray cats are free-roaming kitties who rely heavily on the citizen’s food supplements, they easily transmit some c.r.i.t.i.c.a.l d.i.s.e.a.s.e.s due to not having vaccinated injections. Whereas the feral colony is definitely independent of people’s food, they are more difficult to domesticate than stray ones. In Long Island, US there are thousands of poor cats who have no idea what the future holds and need help.
To solve this dilemma and help the cats out of misery, there is one miserable dad who lost his son earlier and built up a ‘safe haven’ for all kinds of cats in Long Island. L.o.s.i.n.g his 24-year-old son Eric was not a thing that he could ever imagine, he found himself in love with cats more than before and he wanted to save those cats to invade the sorrow inside his heart. The cat Famer Happy Cat Sanctuary was born. Chris began with his first 30 s.i.c.k cats to create his own sanctuary based on his house. It seems like the number is quite big for a fresh start but he managed it so well. These cats and kittens were around his neighborhood so it was easy for him to trap and rescue.
From time to time, the number of cats was getting higher, he had to upgrade his area. It has been insanely 300 cats so far! The good thing is even when there is plenty of cats around the ‘kingdom’, no cat is gonna hurt each other. 300 furry freeloaders are playing, lounging, eating, taking naps, and scratching in their own space. The sanctuary is professionally equipped with the main shelter, a big yard, fences, heaters, air conditioners, and even fountains!
Chris said he had to take care of 70 cats at a time. We can imagine the diversity of cats is enormous. Like I mentioned above, not only stray cats but also the feral ones, the s.i.c.k ones, the i.n.j.u.r.e.d ones, which means this kind-hearted man had to handle 70 different backgrounds and personalities. He did not let anyone get sick or feel left out, not a single one. One Samantarian also donated $200,000 to the sanctuary so Chris could be able to renovate the area, the cats deserve to live in a better place. It was said that the donation was used for expanding the facilities and adding some cool stuff in the outside such as trees and tiny hammocks for cats. Happy Cat Sanctuary is truly the happiest place for kitties. No matter how traumatic the cat is, a generous cat dad will always nurture and give affection to them. The cats can freely be themselves.
