What began as a routine scroll through the Hudson Valley Lost Pets Facebook group turned into a four-month rescue effort after Grahamsville resident Angela Edwards spotted a post about a cat in the Napanoch Walmart parking lot. The cat had a collar.

NAPANOCH – For Edwards and her husband, Jacob, the collar suggested the cat may have been abandoned, so they decided to try to catch him and have him checked for a microchip. Edwards soon found him among a large group of stray and feral cats living in the parking lot. She also noticed food left for the cats and began wondering what would happen to them during the winter, when temperatures drop and food left outside can freeze within minutes.

As for the collared cat, Edwards quickly learned that he was deaf.

“He would be laying in the leaves next to everyone else, and whenever someone would walk by or a car door would shut, all the other cats would scatter, and he just laid there,” Edwards said. “I said, ‘Oh no, this is really not good. He's going to get hit by a car.’”

What followed was a four-month pursuit. The cat repeatedly jumped on traps and would “just kind of hang out” without walking inside. Eventually, Edwards and her husband were able to capture him and bring him to the Ulster County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), where staff confirmed that he was microchipped.

The cat’s owners were located, but told the SPCA that the cat had “got out months ago” and did not want him back. Edwards and her husband wanted to adopt him, but the cat remained in the care of the Ulster County SPCA and was eventually adopted by a staff member.

“He still got a happy ending, but became an emotional thing for us because we were trying to catch his cat for four months,” Edwards said. “The one good thing is [the Ulster County SPCA] takes responsibility. If a cat was theirs, doesn't matter if it's 10 years ago, they'll make sure that they take the cat back.”

One Cat Leads to Many

The rescue also opened Edwards’ eyes to the dozens of other cats living in the Walmart parking lot. Some appeared to be in precarious condition, including one Edwards and her friend, Dawn Melamed, named “Tiny Tim,” who had a broken leg.

With winter approaching, Edwards, her husband and Melamed, who works at Hurley Veterinary Hospital, decided to begin systematically rescuing the cats. Edwards created a chart to track the colony. The plan was straightforward: capture the cats, have them spayed or neutered, check for fleas and diseases, provide necessary medical care and, when possible, find them homes.

Edwards said Jacob has provided financial support, helped capture the cats and built a shelter for them to use during the winter.

After capturing Tiny Tim, the Ulster County SPCA determined that he would likely need to have his leg amputated, a procedure the organization does not cover. The group took him to Hurley Veterinary Hospital and raised nearly $2,000 for his care. Tiny Tim had his leg amputated and now lives with Melamed.

Currently, the Ulster County SPCA is not taking spay and neuter appointments, while other organizations in the area are “packed full.” The Animal Rights Alliance (TARA) in Middletown, according to Edwards, was not taking phone calls until the middle of October for appointments in late November and December.

The lack of available appointments did not discourage Edwards.

“I don't care if this is a feral cat or a house cat. It's still an animal, and people were seeing this cat walking. They're just putting their shopping carts away, and they see this cat barely walking,” Edwards said. “No one else is doing anything. So, me and my husband, we have to do something. That's when we started raising money. We started getting awareness.”

Edwards said they have trapped “all the kittens we know about,” which are easier to catch and socialize. Some of the adult cats appear to be feral, while others appear to have once been pets.

One rescued kitten was seen without its parents, following a neutered male. Edwards speculated that the kitten’s family may have been hit by cars, leaving it alone.

One cat whom Edwards and Jacob believe was abandoned was hiding under cars and had a scratch on his nose. After repeatedly evading traps, he was eventually caught with help from a rescue organization.

“He's a sweet boy,” Edwards said. “He's happy, and he's not a feral whatsoever. He seems like somebody's cat, that just maybe he started spraying or something happened. You could tell he didn't belong at Walmart.”

The cat received medical attention after he was rescued.

For the feral cats, Melamed has taken on the difficult work of helping them adjust to life away from the colony. She is currently caring for a cat named Tuna, who repeatedly evaded traps until he finally went inside the trap for a can of tuna.

Tuna, whom Edwards described as “so beyond terrified,” was placed in a dog crate. Edwards said they crate feral cats to keep them safe because they “start jumping and flying and try to hurt themselves.”

“What she does is she gets them used to her by feeding them. She wants them to associate her with good things, and she puts them in a calm room by themselves, and lets them trust her,” Edwards said. “But with them, it takes months. She's had Tuna for eight or nine months.”

According to Edwards, Tuna has finally stopped running away when Melamed makes eye contact with him. He has also made friends with Tiny Tim. The two cats, who may remember each other from their days in the Walmart parking lot, now spend time together in Melamed’s home.

Many of the cats have now been rehomed, but Edwards estimates that 10 remain in the colony. She believes most are feral because they have skillfully evaded traps and often run into the woods. She described them as the “great grandpas” of the colony and said they are not in imminent danger, although they continue to reproduce.

Compassion and Complaints

Edwards’ efforts have not been without opposition. Some local businesses and neighbors have objected to traps being placed near their properties. Some neighbors who have dealt with cats spraying in their yards have also expressed concern that feeding the colony could attract skunks, raccoons and other animals.

The shelter Jacob built was eventually destroyed, and Edwards said she was told she could no longer trap or feed cats at the Walmart. She said Wawarsing Town Supervisor Joseph Stoeckeler told her the concerns included food attracting other wildlife.

Stoeckeler told the Shawangunk Journal that there is “no pushback at all from the town,” but noted that Walmart is private property.

“Unfortunately, it's on private property, and we can only enforce the rules at hand and encourage the property owners to be cognizant of the public feeding for the animals and how it can affect the neighbors,” Stoeckeler said.

Stoeckeler also said the ASPCA has grants that can help offset the cost of spaying and neutering cats. He said the town has tried to find solutions to mitigate the colony while “trying to hold certain people either accountable or at least deter them, so they bring awareness to the effect of what they're having on their neighbors.”

Edwards said she is not the only person feeding the colony and has developed relationships with neighbors who also help care for the cats.

One ginger cat they named Rusty was soaking wet, skinny and limping. Rusty also had an infection that required two rounds of antibiotics. Jacob “fell in love with” Rusty, according to Edwards.

Edwards said food is necessary both to keep the cats alive and to lure them into traps.

“It broke my heart because I didn't realize that pulling the shelter down would start this snowball effect in a bad way,” Edwards said. “I tried to explain we're feeding them for the winter because they need to survive. But we're doing this project, and we're rehoming them. We're getting them vaccinated. We're getting them spayed and neutered.”

Stoeckeler said he spoke with the Walmart manager, who removed the shelter from Walmart property. He said, however, that people “just move down the blocks” and that there appears to be an organized effort to feed the cats.

“It's a catch-22 of ‘Are we feeding cats so they don't go hungry, or are we not feeding the cats so they are hungry enough to go into traps to be rehomed?’” Stoeckeler said. “It does seem like out-of-town people, when they come in town to go to our local Walmart, are taking advantage of that time and opportunity to feed.”

From December through April, Edwards put the project on pause, feeling discouraged by the pushback. She eventually began reaching out directly to neighbors and businesses to find a place where she could continue trapping.

Edwards even contacted the neighbors who had complained. She said the conversation was initially “intimidating,” but she was ultimately able to meet with them, explain the project and answer their concerns.

“I just try to spread awareness and let them know that just because we're trapping them doesn't mean that we're bringing in skunks and inviting in opossums and raccoons,” Edwards said. “I just try to explain and try to get their fears resolved the best I could while staying neutral.”

Edwards said they remain at a “standstill” with the remaining cats, including one that is pregnant. The cats continue to stay near the Walmart parking lot, where people leave food for them, but Edwards is no longer allowed to trap them there.

A Rescue Effort Still Underway

Still, the rescue effort continues. Edwards and Melamed have hosted fundraising events, including a tractor show where they sold yard-sale items to raise money for cats in their care. One of Melamed’s cats needs eye surgery.

On October 10 from 3 to 6 p.m., Edwards is hosting a cat rescue fundraiser featuring pumpkin painting at the Federated Church of Kerhonkson.

Edwards and Melamed are also working on a name for their rescue effort to make it easier for people to find them. For now, they can be contacted through Edwards’ Facebook page and accept donations through PayPal, Venmo and Cash App, as well as directly through Hurley Veterinary Hospital under Melamed’s name with “feral cats” noted. Donations can also be made through Edwards’ Amazon wish list.

“We end up just doing what we can. I mean, when I say ‘One more cat is too much,’ five cats ago. But now we're just trying to work together,” Edwards said. “Once you give them love and they're not soaking wet and they're not full of fleas and all this other stuff, most of the time they're pretty easy to turn around.”