Feral cats play an essential part in the high-stakes equine environment of Cicero’s Hawthorne Race Course.
The couple of dozen wild felines help keep hungry rats and mice away from the stockpiles of feed for the 1,500 thoroughbred horses that call the grounds home during the racing season.
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But a dispute over the care of the cats recently arose. It pits a woman from nearby Stickney who has tended to the cats on her own for several years against track officials who have taken a firmer hand in the process after the cats’ well-being sparked concern and anger online and in social media.
Hawthorne officials this month solidified a plan with three animal rescue groups to ensure that the 20 to 30 feral cats residing in the track’s backstretch are fed, sheltered and neutered.
But Carrie Gobernatz is crying foul, claiming she has been pushed out and that her cats could starve as a result. Gobernatz has spent the past seven years looking after the cats for free, coming to the backstretch — an array of barns and maintenance facilities — each day to feed her charges.
Hawthorne officials deny Gobernatz’s claim that she was unfairly pushed out, saying it was time to part ways with her and that their new feral cat maintenance plan will be better for all the track’s animals.
The racetrack and Gobernatz appeared to have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship over the years: Gobernatz was able to look after animals, one of her avowed passions, while Hawthorne got a free cat caretaker. Cats are common at many tracks to keep away vermin and other animals.
While both sides differ in their explanation of Gobernatz’s exit from Hawthorne, the 56-year-old’s concern for the track’s cats has taken on an online life of its own in recent weeks.
An online petition entitled “Hawthorne Racetrack killing cats,” which was started by a friend of Gobernatz’s, had gathered nearly 30,000 signatures as of Monday.
Facebook’s “Save the Hawthorne Kitties” page has more than 3,500 likes. A blog called “Frequently Feline” hailed Gobernatz, who says she spent more than $40,000 feeding the cats over the years, as an “unsung hero.”
Faced with hundreds of queries, Hawthorne officials created a special “cats” email address to handle all the questions coming in about the future of Gobernatz’s feral cat colony and sent out multiple news releases to clarify their side of the story.
When the horses came back to the track in September for the fall racing season, officials began receiving complaints from trainers that Gobernatz’s seven feral cat feeding stations were being over-stocked and attracting skunks and raccoons, critters that could pass on viruses to the millions of dollars worth of thoroughbreds, according to Hawthorne spokesman Jim Miller.
Miller said Gobernatz met with Hawthorne leadership in October and agreed to feed the cats at fewer locations, but then continued to feed them in other areas and also brought her 11-year-old daughter with at one point, which was against the rules.
Ultimately, he said, it did not appear that Gobernatz was amenable to change.
“That was the time we felt it was necessary to contact these organizations and get their input,” Miller said.
Gobernatz said Hawthorne officials are “trying to BS the story,” and that she worries some cats will starve as a result of there being fewer feeding stations.
She said she went to meet Hawthorne officials about setting up a more formalized program before she was unexpectedly pushed out.
“(Officials) said I was endangering the horses,” she said. “I would never endanger a horse.”
Gobernatz said garbage bins outside the barns are probably attracting the unwanted raccoons and skunks.
“It’s been very stressful,” Gobernatz said of being an animal lover and having her Hawthorne duties discontinued. “They’ve never done anything for me. They’ve never bought me one bag of food.”
The two sides even give conflicting versions on how Gobernatz began caring for the cats in the first place. She said she was told through a horse groom that Hawthorne’s cats were in need of care. Miller said Gobernatz was brought in through a rescue group.
Miller said the three animal groups now helping at the track, dubbed the Hawthorne Cat Coalition, have set up shelters and a reduced number of feeding stations, and that a system is in place to trap, neuter and release the feral cats.
“We appreciate the job (Gobernatz) did,” Miller said. “Where it came to become an issue was at the end, when you were having feeding stations in barn areas and barns.”
Gobernatz said the issue over the food near the barns is “baloney” because many horse grooms have barn cats to keep vermin out, and there is food in those barns as a result.
Gobernatz was leaving food for the cats late in the afternoon, Miller said, which led to food being out overnight and attracting unwanted varmints. The rescue groups are feeding the cats in the morning to avoid such a surplus.
“The Coalition will ensure the proper care of the cats, provide spay/neuter and vet care as needed, and maintain a harmonious relationship with track officials for the long-term welfare of the cats around Hawthorne’s horse barns,” according to a news release earlier this month from the Tree House Humane Society.
Twenty new insulated shelters and four feeding locations have been installed around the backstretch, at locations away from barn entrances to protect the cats and keep unwanted animals away, according to the Tree House release.
Gobernatz said caring for the cats “was like a full-time job” and that she remains dismayed over Hawthorne’s actions.
She also worries that all the cats won’t be cared for.
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Of particular concern is the fate of Cheeto, an orange kitty that Gobernatz said is blind, sickly and who “freaked out” when the racing season started.
“He is one of the biggest questions I’m getting from so many (supporters),” Gobernatz said.
Hawthorne officials allowed her on to the backstretch to rescue Cheeto, she said, but “now we can’t find him.”
“Cheeto was a priority,” she said. “They were supposed to be putting food at his station and trying to trap him.”
A Hawthorne cat Q and A released last week confirmed Gobernatz was allowed back on the property and that she was unable to find Cheeto in the feeding area where she expected him to be.
“Ms. Gobernatz was allowed to leave a trap for Cheeto, but declined to do so,” the Q and A states. “She did leave additional food for the cat which she said had medicine in it.”
Miller said Monday that Cheeto’s whereabouts remain unclear, but that staff will remain on the lookout.
“There’s actively been numerous people … that have searched for a cat of this description,” he said. “Nobody has been able to come up with the cat.”
All missing cats aside, Miller said Hawthorne’s feral tenants will continue to be looked after, an ending everyone can agree on.
“We understand there are some people that are never going to be convinced with the efforts that are being made … everybody’s entitled to their opinion,” he said. “We understand that, yes, Carrie was the one working with the cats for a long time. Currently, we have three organizations that will now be caring for the cats. And caring for the cats is the most important thing.”
Staff reporter William Hageman contributed.
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