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What she walked into was overwhelming.
Customers streamed in, arms full of flowers, gifts, and bags of soft food she could eat. They hugged her, squeezed her hands, and told her they had been worried about her.
Some just stood there, fighting back tears, grateful she was still here.
Stephanie Sclafani arrived carrying two milkshakes and a bag of mashed potatoes from Friendly’s—one of the only things Katarina could manage to eat.
“I called her earlier and I said, ‘What can I do?’” Sclafani said. “She said she couldn’t eat anything solid, so I asked, ‘Well, can you have milkshakes and mashed potatoes?’ And she said yes.”
Stephanie Sclafani buys bird seed after hugging Katarina and delivering milkshakes and mashed potatoes.
Milkshakes for Katarina from Stephanie Sclafani.
It had been only four days since Raymond Carey, a longtime customer, walked into the pet shop and, without warning, shot her in the throat and jaw with a crossbow, as previously reported by Daily Voice. Katarina was rushed to the hospital and survived, but the trauma of that moment still lingers.
“I was very scared,” said Katarina, who was able to disarm Carey after he took his first shot. “Very traumatized walking into the store. I have to be on guard all the time.”
Earlier in the year, a $7,000 African parrot was stolen from Birds By Joe 2.
But on Friday, as customers continued to file in, their kindness helped ease some of that fear.
Sclafani, who has been coming to the store for nearly a year, wasn’t surprised by the outpouring of support. She recalled a time when Katarina’s generosity touched her personally.
A customer stops by Birds By Joe 2 to check on Katarina.
One Sunday, during a storm, Sclafani was trying to buy a $100 bird stand when the card machine went down. Without hesitation, Katarina told her, “It’s OK, bring it to me when you have it.”
Now, it was the community’s turn to give back.
The store’s co-owner, Joe Reilly — who owns Birds by Joe in Green Brook — had been in Florida when the attack happened. He caught the first flight back after hearing the news and was shaken—but not shocked—when he learned the suspect was Carey, he said.
“Something always seemed ‘not right’ about him,” Reilly said.
For now, the investigation into the attack is ongoing. But inside Birds By Joe 2, the focus is on healing—and Katarina isn’t doing it alone.
Raymond M Carey.
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