State Order Scats Montauk Cats

Some year-round Montauk residents are looking for new homes as their living situation comes to an abrupt end. The State Parks Department has ordered dozens of feral cats that have been living on the golf course for over 20 years to be trapped and removed, after nearly two years of talks with those caring for them.

On Feb. 21, the parks department wrote to local animal volunteers that they would begin trapping the feral cat colony and removing the cats. In the past, some local residents had complained to the department citing health hazards and the danger to the local bird populations.

“State parks are not a good place for feral cats,” said Dan Keefe of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, who confirmed on Tuesday that the department hired a private contractor to remove the animals.

Keefe said their main concern was to be humane. Upon removal, the animals are taken to ARF for a medical screening and then moved into better living situations such as living outside of private homes or in barns. “This is the best solution for the feral colony and for the people in the area,” Keefe said.

Elizabeth Willoughby, an volunteer, is working closely with Tom Dess at Montauk Downs as the animals are removed from the grounds and brought to ARF for medical evaluation. According to Jamie Berger, the director of marketing and communications at ARF, “These animals are being screened to make sure they are in good enough health.”

The cats brought to ARF have also been revaccinated. Two of the cats, whom Berger said were extremely old and in failing health, were put down.

“This is a project and not a crisis,” Willoughby said. She sees the trapping and relocation as a good solution, one that ultimately protects the colony.  She had been trapping and neutering these cats since 2002 when the original caretaker of the colony went into a nursing home.

For almost twenty years, Alex Gorseleine had fed the cats on the golf course. From that time, the animals numbered about a dozen.  In 2002, Willoughby was called upon by ARF which sponsors a program of Trap, Neuter and Release.

Willoughby said she has trapped and neutered many of these feral cats in the past.  “We’ve taken about 30 cats in all, but the past few years there haven’t been any kittens.”

The lack of new births and kittens indicates the trap, neuter and release program has been a successful. The philosophy behind such a program is that feral cats cannot be rehabilitated to live inside as house cats. Small houses are provided for the cats and food.  

For the most part, feral cats will not hunt much if they have a steady source of food.  “We give them food and a place to live,” Willoughby said.

So far, Willoughby has been able to relocate nine of the Montauk Downs cats this week to live in barns on the East End. Two cats went together to one stable on Monday. She said a stable is ideal for feral cats because the cats have an outdoor place to live and the cats also eat the rodents that will eat the horses’ food.