Hundreds of cats take over island in New York

TONAWANDA ISLAND , N.Y., Aug. 1 (UPI) -- They might not have a council or a conch, but cats have completely taken over an island in the middle of the Niagara River in New York.

Locals estimate that Tonawanda Island now has hundreds of abandoned and feral cats roaming its shores.

People don't live on the 85-acre island year-round, but the cats now do.

Word about the cat population has apparently spread because people will come to the island specifically to drop off their unwanted feline friends.

"They're throughout the whole island," Mike Charnock, the owner of the Shores Waterfront Restaurant & Marina, told WIVB. "They're multiplying horrendously; there's just too many cats is what it boils down to."

Danielle Coogan is attempting to help the situation with a GoFundMe effort called "Operation: Island Cats."

"This is a small island with a big cat problem," Coogan said. "They're just cats that no one really cares about so we are going to try and clean up the island."

She has already raised more almost $6,000 which will be used to get the cats spayed and neutered.

Many of the adult cats on the island are "too wild" to leave, but some of the kittens will be put up for adoption.