'Vet Techs Broke' As 54 Cats Found Dead In Rubble Of Blaze At Long Island Feline Sanctuary

LONG ISLAND, NY — The rain trickled down and fierce cold chilled the bones of animal rescuers and veterinary personnel on Monday, the seventh day of rescue efforts, as a grim scene unfolded as 54 cats were found dead — bringing the total number to well over 120 — among the rubble after a devastating blaze broke out at the Happy Cat Sanctuary.

A blaze of undetermined origin broke out at the sanctuary and its founder, Christopher Arsenault, was killed on March 31. The Medford property is said to have housed hundreds of cats, some of whom were placed there for retirement after their owners could no longer take care of them or died.

Since then, a coalition of dozens of rescuers from organizations like Strong Island Animal Rescue, Paws of War, the Sweetbriar Nature Center, and the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals have been desperately trying to recover as many of the felines as possible.

But the coalition had not been able to access the main house since last week.

Paws of War's Robert Misseri called the fire's devastation "unique in a very horrible way."

Vet techs broke on the scene.

"They have seen everything come to their hospitals, but they were not prepared for this today," he said. "We would been doing everything that Chris would want us to do."

Volunteers were greeted with a really rough day in terms of the weather, but worked "vigorously in the rain," Strong Island's Frankie Florida said.

They searched for any survivors, and it turned out to be a "big eye-opener" for the number of cats that was anticipated had perished.

"Our efforts came up pretty null and void with finding any cats or any other survivors," he said. "There are a few cats that are around, but they're not injured."

Rescuers are continuing to trap the animals, amassing over 160-plus cats who are being housed at a warehouse and are doing well.

"But today, it's been a gruesome day, as far as you know, finding out how many more cats were actually in the house, because we got some access to the house today," he added.

The groups were not able to access the house until Monday morning, with the goal of seeing if there were any injured cats post-fire that went back into the rubble, according Misseri.

"Thank God no living cats were injured, but 54 deceased, and additional cats over the 100 have been removed," he said. "It is been very difficult for our team here today to assess every one of them."

The animals had to be scanned for microchips, he added.

Three cats recovered belonged to Arsenault and lived with him in his bedroom, and the 54 were taken Regency Forest Pet Memorial for cremation.

"It's a very sad day," he added.

Teams are knocking on doors, and are searching the remaining properties to see if there's any more injured cats that are off Arsenault's property that are around the neighborhood.

"We're going to continue to do that until we feel we have exhausted every effort that anything else can't be alive," he said. That's our priority. There's a lot of cats in the neighborhood, and that's going to be another plan."

There is another 60 cats that are safe in the area and they will go over to the warehouse, get vaccinated, and treated for fleas with Revolution, as well as treated for whatever minor issues they may have.

Floridia said that the coalition's mission is winding down, but volunteer will still be on call, and will be "checking to see what's going on," while the directors of Happy Cat will be deciding who gets adopted, who goes where as far as "our boots on the ground."

The coalition still has weeks of work ahead of them, though it's it's not as fast-moving as it was.

"Today was a grim day," he said. "It feels like the weather. I mean, this is one of the most terrible situations that I've come across, seeing this many animals that suffered and died. It's just heartbreaking."

He lamented the loss of Arsenault.

"To have lost a person like Chris in the rescue world is absolutely devastating, and it's just a horrible, horrible situation," he said, adding that he is speechless beyond those words touching on the loss.

Floridia said he is grateful for the support from the community.

"We just want to thank everybody and just, you know, continue our efforts and hope for the best that you know, if there's anything else out there we find it," he said.

If neighbors might call asking for other cats to go the warehouse, "where they can finally decompress and move on from there," he said.

"Today has been chilling to the bone; we're all freezing," he said. "We're all heartbroken, and it's starting to hit us now. It's really a unique, devastating situation."

The cause of the blaze is still under investigation, a police spokeswoman said.