Fire kills cats, dogs

8 dogs, 2 cats saved as blaze destroys animal shelter

COLIN MCCONNELL/torstar news service

Bailey hangs out at a shelter yesterday. Bailey was one of eight dogs saved from the fire at the Durham Region Humane Society shelter in Oshawa. He was found just three days ago, tied to a fence.

Published: December 18, 2008 5:36 a.m.

Last modified: December 18, 2008 9:41 a.m.

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An early morning fire yesterday destroyed Durham Region Humane Society’s shelter and claimed the lives of 150 cats, three dogs and several rabbits and rodents.

Eight dogs, two cats and a rat named Baby Barnard were rescued by firefighters before the inferno engulfed the overcrowded shelter in a rundown industrial building in south Oshawa. The victims perished from smoke inhalation.

“We could hear the dogs barking when we got there,” said platoon chief Neil Crouter of Oshawa Fire Services. “There were leashes inside the door so the firefighters grabbed them, then grabbed the dogs and handed them to police at the door.”

Crouter said the dogs were further away from the fire, which was raging in the front part of the building, and that firefighters had barely enough time to grab a couple cats in cages, he said. The other cats were “already gone,” overcome by smoke long before the flames reached them, he said. “At least they were asleep and didn’t feel anything.”

Police officers comforted the rescued animals and kept them warm in their cruisers while firefighters battled the blaze, which broke out around 2:15 a.m.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated. Damage to the 2,400-square-foot facility on Waterloo Street is estimated at $250,000.

Two sobbing teenagers placed carnations in front of the building’s charred remains as shelter employees and volunteers gathered to grieve the lost creatures.

The Durham organization will temporarily have to work out of the Oshawa Animal Services’ Farewell Street office.