Fire kills a New York cat sanctuary founder and more than 100 rescued felines

NEW YORK (AP) — A fire burned down a cat shelter in suburban New York, killing its founder and more than 100 of the felines he rescued and sparking a rescue operation for dozens of cats still roaming the destroyed property.

As many as 150 cats are believed to have survived Monday's blaze at Happy Cat Sanctuary on Long Island, according to Roy Gross, chief of the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which is helping coordinate the recovery effort.

Some of the surviving animals suffered burns and smoke inhalation and have been taken to local animal hospitals for treatment, he said Tuesday.

Many of those in the house perished and others with significant injuries have been euthanized while volunteers work to collect the survivors.

“The whole place is burned down and there's cats right there on the debris,” Gross said.

In the coming days, the SPCA plans to deploy its mobile animal surgical hospital, which it used to treat search-and-rescue dogs at ground zero following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, to help triage rescued cats close to the fire site, he said.

“This is going to be an ongoing situation to get all of these cats cared for and placed in a proper facility," said Gross. "Just a major undertaking after a tragic situation.”

Owner Christopher Arsenault was found in a back room of the shelter, which was located in the hamlet of Medford, more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Manhattan.

The property, which included outdoor buildings where cats were also housed, remained cordoned off Tuesday as police and fire officials returned to the charred site. Suffolk County police said the cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

Arsenault, 65, founded Happy Cat in 2006 after the death of his 24-year-old son, Eric, in a motorcycle accident, according to the sanctuary's website. He described finding his calling when he came across a colony of 30 sick kittens and nursed them back to health.

Gross said Arsenault gave over much of the house to the cats, living simply in a room with a bed, microwave and a small refrigerator.

“Every dime he had he put into taking care of those cats,” he said. “His life was the cats.”

Gross acknowledged the shelter received its share of complaints, given its location in a residential area.

But SPCA staff visited the property around 10 times over the years and found the animals were healthy, well-fed and receiving proper care, he said.

“He wasn't a hoarder. That's not the case here,” Gross said. “This was a good man doing the right thing. He was a hero for what he was doing.”

Officials for the town of Brookhaven, where Medford is, told Newsday Arsenault had removed an unsafe finished basement and was working to bring the premises into compliance with building codes.

In recent months, he had begun relocating some 60 to 80 cats to a 30-acre (12-hectare) farm in upstate New York where he was planning to move, according to Gross and town officials.

“Unfortunately, this disaster happened and now he’s gone,” Gross said.

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