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A nonprofit no-kill cat shelter in Massapequa has been caged. Town officials, citing code violations, forced it to cease operations—angering volunteers and cat lovers alike in a Facebook face-off.
But the shelter’s existence has raised some health concerns for people in neighboring businesses.
As the Massapequa Observer first reported on July 24, supporters of All About Spay Neuter Inc., which humanely captures and sterilizes feral cats in Levittown, Farmingdale, Hicksville—indeed anywhere it’s needed—said the violations were not properly communicated and the storefront shutdown is an injustice.
“I’m fighting politics and it’s disgusting,” said Massapequan Joanne Monez, director of All About Spay Neuter, which also facilitates pet adoptions and opened a storefront on Merrick Road in November. “We spoke to officials and were on track to complying with the code. Then they came in and shut us down without warning.”
Monez said a town code enforcement officer entered the facility on July 17 and issued the nonprofit a notice to immediately cease occupancy, citing a strong odor and complaints from a neighboring storefront, Reliance Healthcare Staffing, which did not return a request for comment as of press time. The town also cited the cat shelter for lacking proper permits for use, construction and alterations which it made, and with creating a nuisance.
According to Monez, the shutdown was ordered by Diana Aquiar, the Town of Oyster Bay’s deputy commissioner for planning and development. Aquiar referred all press inquiries to the Town of Oyster Bay and Supervisor John Venditto, who said the forced closure was the ultimate result of a four-month long investigation of code violations by the establishment, brought on by complaints from neighboring business owners.
“As always, the Town of Oyster Bay is looking to attain full compliance for code violations first and foremost, in an effort to protect the health, safety and welfare of its residents and all involved,” said Venditto. “Despite the best efforts of the Town’s Planning and Development Department, compliance for numerous issues could not be reached in a timely manner. As a result, occupants of adjoining tenancies became ill from the odors being emitted at this location. At the time of the Town’s most recent inspection, there were over 80 cats and kittens in only 20 cages at this establishment.”
But multiple sources, including volunteers at the facility, have told the Massapequa Observer that the shelter had 40 cages while operational and that the town’s “most recent inspection” came after all the animals — and half of the cages — had already been removed.
“We don’t dispute the number of cats, but the number of cages he mentions is misleading. It nicely makes it sound like a hoarder situation. Many times a cage would have two kittens in it, for companionship or if they are siblings,” said Catherine B. “Whoever his people are, they are telling him these things to justify what they did.”
As for the odor, according to Monez and other business owners in the area, the complaints came from Dana Arnone, owner of Reliance Healthcare Staffing, located next door, as well as Debra Ienna, who owns that neighboring building. Ienna, a Massapequa resident, said her tenant, Arnone, first brought the odor to her attention.
“Dana complained for months that her employees couldn’t work in that environemnt. She has a pregnant employee, who she had to send home numerous times because she, as a nurse, knows that it’s not safe for a pregnant woman,” said Ienna. “My husband and I went there and the minute we walked into Dana’s place, we could smell the pungent odor. The people working at the shelter don’t smell it because they are immune to it. They are used to it.”
Ienna said Monez did offer to install ventilation in the healthcare business, but according to Ienna, that would only have masked the problem.
“I did go to the Town,” Ienna freely admits. “I cannot lose my tenant, this is my livelyhood. The apartment above the Reliance, they can smell it, too. They also complained to me.”
Roseann Leppla, the owner of A Cut Above Hair Studio, which is two stores down from All About Spay, said the cat shelter is clean, quiet and without any detectable odors.
“We have never had a problem with any smell from that place,” said Leppla, who has been in her location for eight years. “My daughter lives in an apartment above this salon, and she said she has never noticed any odor. She walks her dog past that shelter everyday and she said she has never noticed any bad odors. Also, if it smells so bad, how can the volunteers work in there? And if they are animal lovers, would they want the cats to be in such bad conditions?”
But Ienna said it is clear why Leppla isn’t smelling the odor.
“Reliance is one store over, with one wall separating it. Cut Above is two stores down. The odor isn’t going through two walls,” said Ienna, who was the previous owner of the salon. “Plus, the salon has odors of its own and a proper ventilation system.”
When officials arrived at the shelter on July 19 to remove the cats, they found that volunteers had already taken the animals out of the facility. Monez said that North Shore Animal Shelter took more than 30 kittens, and other cats were safe with various volunteers.
“We knew that if the town took the cats, they would be taken to a kill shelter,” said Monez. “And we were not about to see that happen.”
All About Spay Neuter Inc., which as been around for more than a decade, works to trap feral cats in the Town, spay/neuter them, and either release them or search for adoptive families. Monez said the organization has a contract with the town to trap and sterilize cats, and that she never thought the shelter would be closed.
“We took the burden off of the town to take in animals and to help control the cat population,” she said. “We want to be an asset to the community. We had kids come in for community service and we had retired people come in and help. It doesn’t make sense to shut us down.”
Though she went to the town with the initial complaint, Ienna said she is not anti-animal, or a special friend of Town officials, which she said is the common thought among the shelter’s supporters. She said she had her own obstacles working with officials in the past, and she said Monez’s best course of action would be to find a stand-alone building.
“The Town will cut you down and slice you up if they want to. I spent $22,000 trying to expand my old store and did all the necessary steps and I was denied,” she said. “I am a huge animal advocate and I think she does work. But she is digging herself into a hole.”
