This happened 14 years ago, but so clear in my memory that when i read the story of her death (which happened in october, did not read it until today) I thought it was just a couple of years ago.
This amazing cat, who had the Scarlett award for Animal Heroism named after her, captured the heart of the world when she went back into a fire 5 times and pulled her kittens out one by one, getting badly burned in the process.
She also has left a legacy in the NSLA's sponser program called the Scarlett room which is to sponser special needs animals. Read on for the updates and how she is still helping other animals.
Scarlett all healed:
Read below the fold for her story, her life and also please take a look at the animals in the Scarlett Room at the shelter blog which need either sponsers or homes for their special needs. This is more than just an update on Scarlett, i hope some help come to these deserving animals, or to ones in your neck of the woods at shelters. Every shelter including the RSPCA ones have at least one animal that needs medical care and often they are unable to fund it alone.
There sure won't be much original content in this diary because it really speaks for itself. Never has an animal moved me to the extent that Scarlett did. I take in ferals myself and have seen their love for their babies as well as love for their brothers or sisters or friends and watched their amazing transformation over time from wildlings to big sucks who love to be pampered. Scarlett epitomizes all brave feral cats and mothers anywhere.
Picture of her and her kittens from when she was found by a firefighter who took them to the North Shore Animal League, a no kill shelter in NY.
October 15, 2008 (Port Washington, NY) - Scarlett the cat, whose story of bravery, uncompromising love and triumph over all odds, has passed on. The heroine calico, who in 1996 made headlines around the world for pulling her five kittens to safety from a raging fire, lost her battle with multiple illnesses this week after living with her adoptive family in Brooklyn, New York for over 12 years.
Back in 1996, Scarlett was tending to her kittens in an abandoned Brooklyn garage when fire broke out. Having extinguished the blaze, firefighters sighted the mother cat, slowly carrying her four-week-old kittens from the building. Badly scorched, her ears radically burned, she lined up her babies. With her eyes blistered from the inferno, she was seen touching each with her nose, to reassure herself that her litter of five had made it to safety. She then collapsed, unconscious.
http://www.nsalamerica.org/...
The firefighter who rescued her is David Gianelli:
Firefighter David Giannelli, a 17-year veteran with Ladder Company 175 told reporters "What she did was she ran in and out of that building five times, got them all out, and then started moving them one by one across the street." David found the feline family outside the building and took them to an animal shelter, where the mother and babies received treatment. His colleagues coined a nickname for firefighter David: "The animal guy." "Everyone here knows that anything I can do for an animal I'll do," Giannelli explains.
Scarlett was taken in by a wonderful woman whom wrote in her letter that after she was injured in a car accident she became more compassionate and decided to only take in animals with special needs. The kittens were adopted out as pairs. (a white kitten died a month after the fire from a virus but the other four went well until 2008 when Tanuki got cancer
Samsara and Tanuki went to the Vercillo family in Port Washington, while Oreo and Smokey live with Debbie Palmarozzo of Miller Place, also on Long Island. [Sadly, Tanuki died of cancer in September 2008; he had been diagnosed a few weeks earlier, but it spread very quickly and nothing could be done.] After very careful consideration of the possible new homes for their mother, Scarlett returned to Brooklyn to live with writer Karen Wellen (below) at her parents' house. Karen's own elderly cat had recently died and she wanted to take in an animal with special needs. Despite needing medicated eye cream three times a day, Scarlett otherwise recovered well and until quite recently enjoyed excellent health (see more below). 'I expected to see a scrawny, hairless cat,' said Karen, 'but she was gorgeous.'
http://www.purr-n-fur.org.uk/...
)
As I mentioned in the intro, Scarlett has a living legacy in the Scarlett Room at the http://blogs.animalleague.org/....
Welcome to the Scarlett Room, named after the courageous mother cat who in 1996 fearlessly risked her life as she rescued her entire litter of kittens from a burning garage, and in doing so, carved herself a heroic place in history and in all of our hearts.
Scarlett is not only the Animal League's beloved symbol of courage and heart; she also symbolizes all the cats in our Sponsor Program who face various hurdles and challenges. Sadly, many of the dogs and cats that come to us have been abused or neglected and others are injured or have chronic illnesses. To highlight these amazing pets who persevere in the face of adversity, we have created The Scarlett Room.
The Scarlett Room is a fun and informative place where you can stay abreast on all the animals in the Sponsor Program - both cats and dogs - learn about their lives, their medical conditions, and perhaps share in their experiences.
Anyone living in the area should check out these animals when looking to give a forever home to one. They all have some special needs that make them harder to adopt out Luckily the NSLA is the worlds largest no kill shelter. If you cannot take one in, or don't live in the area but have some funds to help, all of the animals have medical needs that your sponsership will help both the shelter or the adoptive parents for those lucky enough to find a home, such as Charley meet those needs. They update them every month it looks like, all the different stories.
UPDATE! thank you to OkiebyAccident for catching my brainfart in math. It was 14 years ago, not 12.
Oh my, maybe i subconsciously wanted to pretend that I was not that old lol.