Fortunately for local cats on Tanglewood Drive, Kristen Buczynski loves them. Earlier this year, as reported by The Press, Buczynski had a problem with cats overrunning the neighborhood.

“The cats were everywhere, and they all came from one neighbor feeding and housing them,” she said.

Buczynski went to the township and asked for assistance but said she was rejected.

“We did not ask for money. We only wanted to make the township aware of the problem. We asked for 15 minutes in front of the (East Allen Township) Board of Supervisors, but we were denied,” she said. “We asked that someone from the township come out and talk to the property owner who was housing the cats to allow us to come on to her property to trap cats. The zoning officer came out and instructed the owner to stop feeding the cats and said the township would not be involved any further.”

According to Buczynski, when the neighbor stopped feeding the cats, they were ravenous.

“There were so many lined up outside my door crying for food that I had to go into another room,” she said.

What seemed like an impossible task was made possible by Shelter for Animal Health and Welfare. The shelter provided traps and offered to take the cats into its facility.

“[The shelter volunteers] were overwhelmed. At one point, their entire quarantine rooms were filled with cats trapped on Tanglewood,” Buczynski said.

But progress is being made. Buczynski reported the shelter trapped 38 cats, five of which were returned under the trap neuter and release program to Tanglewood.

“We are happy that most of the cats are nonferal. They were able to be adopted out, and I follow some of them on Facebook,” she said.

The frustrating part is the neighbor responsible for this behavior had another litter of cats.

“I sent my partner (Kris Russo, a code enforcement official) over there to talk to this lady. He has experience dealing with people who are reclusive. We explained that we were not going to kill the cats. While she initially agreed to let us trap cats, she changed her mind the following day,” Buczynski said.

With the situation somewhat under control, Buczynski said she feeds the last litter, so she can trap them and get them to the shelter, where they can be adopted out.

The cost for the trap-neuter-release program is borne by Buczynski, her partner, neighbors and Shelter for Animal Health and Welfare.

“We are going to hold a fundraiser for them Sept. 6 to help defray some of the costs they incurred,” Buczynski said.

The fundraiser is at Black River Farm & Wardog Spirits. The fest is loaded with live entertainment, adoptable pets, good food and drinks.

Township Manager Brent Green has since agreed to have representatives from Center for Animal Health and Welfare, along with residents around Tanglewood Drive, meet with the board of supervisors.