Sad story … Cat Sanctuary

 In today's news:  Cat Sanctuary Burns Down

MEDFORD, Long Island (WABC) -- The owner of a cat sanctuary and at least 100 cats were killed in a fire on Monday morning.

The blaze broke out around 7:15 a.m. at the Happy Cat Sanctuary on Dourland Road.

Officials say the owner was killed as well as at least 100 cats.

There were 300 cats inside at the time of the fire and officials say the owner went back into the home to rescue the animals.

The investigation is ongoing into the cause of the fire.

Few other details were released.

You can see a video report with more detail here. Apparently the man initially escaped the fire, but kept going back inside to rescue more cats … and then he didn’t come out …

I heard about the fire several hours before the news at noon.  Why?

Because of  John Debacker.  He’s somewhat of a local hero.  Anytime you’re on Facebook or Neighbors or Ring and someone mentions a stray or feral cat that needs to be rescued, inevitably someone will respond “call John Debacker”. 

So when Debacker posted on Facebook that he might need up to 300 cat carriers the community responded  …  I messaged him, I offered my carrier (Shadow doesn’t fit comfortably in her carrier and I need to replace it, so why not donate it?) … he posted shortly thereafter that he had more than enough carriers, but now he needs to find a place for the survivors. 

So sad …