Looking After the Atlantic City Boardwalk Cats

By Daniel Kov

LISTEN TO AUDIO OF BERNARD SHAW AND FRANK WILDING

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ATLANTIC CITY – The stray cats that live under the Atlantic City boardwalk might seem abandoned, but they have caretakers. For more than 10 years, Barney Shaw and Frank Wilding have been visiting each day and raising money to help feed the cats.

“Donald Trump didn’t want them,” said Shaw, a retired department salesman and Vietnam veteran. “So we took care of them.”

Stray cats have became a public health and animal welfare problem for the city, whose approach to dealing with the felines was extermination. As an alternative, Shaw brought in Alley Cat Allies in 2000, a national advocacy organization that dedicates itself to the protection of stray cat populations. Shaw and the group capture each cat living underneath the boardwalk and transport them to an animal shelter, where they are spayed and neutered, and then returned to the beach.

The efforts have had positive results. Over the past decade, the number of wild cats decreased from an estimated 500 to roughly 200.

Today, with the vast majority of the stray cat population neutered and spayed, Shaw and Wilding spend three hours every day feeding the cats and soliciting donations to help pay for cat food.

“We’re not on any kind of payroll,” said Wilding. “We have a contract with the city. They can stay here as long as they’re cared for.”

As Wilding opens a can of wet cat food, a black cat creeps out of the shadows and into view. “This one’s Tonka,” he said, as the cat gobbles up its meal.

“I’ve taken two home with me,” said Shaw. “One is named Sam, and the other one is Hershey.”

Many local residents have also taken to the cats and joined in naming their four-footed boardwalk friends. One cat, Ms. Piggy, named for its plump size, became so popular that a commemorative plaque was placed in front of the Trump Taj Mahal, where it lived until its death last winter.

Another plaque can be found on the boardwalk at New York Avenue, in memory of Jimmy Wilkins, a bathroom attendant who also cared for the cats.

“This is a retirement home if they don’t get adopted,” said Shaw.