Poison, Harassment And Theft Spook Astoria Cat Rescue Volunteers

ASTORIA, QUEENS — Volunteers for the nonprofit Astoria Cat Rescue say a pattern of seemingly targeted harassment has them fearing for their safety — and the safety of the animals they're trying to help.

The nonprofit's founder, Charlotte Conley, has been subjected to expletive-filled rants from passers-by during the decade she has been feeding, spaying and neutering the neighborhood's feral cats, she said. Mainly, they'll ask why she's feeding the cats and complain about having the animals in the neighborhood.

She said some people have even tried to poison the cat food she and a team of volunteers puts out at a series of feeding stations around Astoria every night, leading to the deaths of roughly nine cats last year and prompting the Guardian Angels to get involved, other news outlets previously reported.

As recently as last week, Conley found a black substance that looked like tar in a bowl of cat food she leaves outside her own home, where she said she takes care of about 30 rescue cats.

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But things took a dark turn about 7:30 p.m. Thursday when she said, for the second night in a row, a man followed her as she set out on her four-mile feeding route and tried to break into her car.

This time, the man succeeded, racing off with the donated car the volunteers use to drop off food — as well as Conley's wallet, where she keeps the nonprofit's credit card.

"He must've been actually watching me for some time to know what I was going to do. That's what's eerie about it," Conley told Patch in a phone interview. "He was hanging out in this freezing cold weather last night watching me."

One Astoria Cat Rescue volunteer who spoke to Patch was so spooked by the recent turn of events that she asked to remain anonymous.

"It's getting kind of scary," the volunteer, who's been with the group for about a year, said by phone. "It's really sad and really scary that we're just trying to do a good thing for the community and someone, or a group of people, is just trying to scare us."

Conley managed to find the car abandoned nearby later that night, but she said she still feels uneasy. A police spokesperson confirmed that officers are investigating the theft and haven't yet made an arrest.

Now, she told Patch she'll always take someone with her on her route to feed an estimated 200 cats a night. The goal is to get the cats in the habit of showing up at a certain spot each night, so volunteers can get them spayed and neutered and, hopefully, she said, help find them a home.

"They depend on you. They run with their little tails up the minute that they see you with your car or cart," she said. "You have a relationship with the animals."