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The daughter of Happy Cat Sanctuary founder Chris Arsenault has released her first public statement following his death, asserting her legal role as the steward of her father’s legacy and noting serious concerns about the current handling of the nonprofit organization and its animals.
Kristen Arsenault said in the online statement that she is the sole trustee of The Christopher Arsenault Irrevocable Trust, a legal instrument she said her father created in May 2023 to protect the sanctuary’s property and ensure the ethical treatment of its animals.
“Before his death, my father took proactive legal measures to safeguard his life’s work,” Arsenault wrote in the statement, posted three days ago to Happy Cat Sanctuary’s Facebook page. “In May 2023, he established The Christopher Arsenault Irrevocable Trust … to ensure the long-term care and ethical treatment of the animals he devoted his life to saving.”
Kristen Arsenault’s released her statement two weeks after her father died heroically on March 31, while trying to save the cats in his care during the devastating fire that engulfed the Medford sanctuary. She is his only living child.
A large-scale rescue mission involving more than 100 cats continues, as volunteers and advocates work to secure medical treatment, rehabilitation and permanent homes for the displaced animals. More than 100 cats died in the fire.
Chris Arsenault began rescuing cats in the wake of another tragedy — the 2006 death of his son, Eric, who was killed in a motorcycle accident at age 24. The heartbreak led him to find comfort and purpose in caring for unwanted and abandoned cats, first in his backyard and later at the sanctuary he founded in 2011.
Since her father’s passing, Kristen Arsenault said — without specifying who — that individuals “who had no visible involvement with the sanctuary” have “attempted to assume authority over finances, animal placement, and public communications without legal validation or organizational history.”
“These actions,” she wrote, “are not only unauthorized — they are deeply harmful and misleading.”
Arsenault’s full statement also alleges the unauthorized use of her father’s digital accounts, the circulation of falsified documents, and acts of intimidation directed at longtime volunteers and herself. She said she has submitted a formal complaint to the New York State Attorney General and requested that GoFundMe pause all fund withdrawals tied to Happy Cat, Inc., “until rightful authority is established.”
The GoFundMe campaign to support Happy Cat and cover veterinary costs for cats injured in the fire has now raised over $833,000. In total, close to $1 million in donations have come in for Happy Cat through various fundraisers.
Arsenault has separately launched a new memorial fundraiser titled “Support the Legacy of Christopher Arsenault.” It has raised nearly $2,000 since its launch three days ago.
Chris Arsenault’s colleague Lisa Jaeger of Jaeger’s Run Animal Rescue has spearheaded the rescue effort, as well as the fundraising campaign. On Wednesday, she shared a Facebook post that references Kristen Arsenault’s recent statement.
“To all who have donated: Every dollar raised through my father’s memorial campaigns remains intact,” she wrote. “None of these funds have been released to unauthorized parties. They are being preserved for their intended purpose: the rehabilitation of burned and displaced cats, and the reestablishment of Happy Cat, Inc. with integrity.”
Arsenault said she intends to share a roadmap in the coming weeks to rebuild and restore Happy Cat “with leadership and structure that reflect the values my father upheld — compassion, transparency, and commitment to every animal’s life.”
Top photos: Facebook/Happy Cat Sanctuary and Strong Island Animal Rescue.
