Cat Shelter Operator Gets More Time To Vacate

Long Islander News photo/Andrew Wroblewski
The Grateful Paw Cat Shelter at 104 Deposit Road in East Northport is pictured on Wednesday.

By Jano Tantongco
jtantongco@longislandergroup.com

The town has extended the deadline for the League for Animal Protection of Huntington to vacate its Grateful Paw Cat Shelter in East Northport.

LAP, a nonprofit currently working to get its tax-exemption status reinstated, did not have its 10-year agreement to run the shelter renewed. That decision was made after town officials learned the nonprofit lost its tax-exemption status on May 15, 2015 by consistently failing to file necessary state and federal paperwork.

The town then ordered LAP to vacate the cat shelter by July 19. However, Huntington Supervisor Frank Petrone said in an emailed statement that the deadline has been extended by more than four months.

“LAP has been there for a long time, and we don’t want them to feel they are being rushed. Out of respect for the volunteers and the cats, we felt an extension until Nov. 30 should give them adequate time to phase out their operations at the shelter,” Petrone said. Town officials have previously said the town will care for any cats remaining at the shelter before a new operator is found.

Whether the town will eventually renew its contract with LAP remains uncertain. Town officials have already issued RFPs for new shelter operators, but Petrone has previously stated that nothing will prevent LAP for submitting responses to future RFPs.

Town officials were first alerted that the nonprofit lost its tax-exemption status by a resident who incurred a penalty from the IRS after claiming a tax-deductible donation.

LAP President Deborah Larkin said the nonprofit will pay IRS penalties and taxes for anybody hit with them due to the loss of status.

She added that LAP is working with a new legal team to have its tax-exemption status status retroactively reinstated, which would ensure there’s no lapse. She said at the June 13 town board meeting that the estimated time for reinstatement is three to nine months.

Larkin, in a phone call Tuesday, called the extended deadline “wonderful news.”

She added, “Now we can continue to do what we’ve been doing best, which is taking care of the cats and serving the rest of the community with their cat problems.”