The Brief
Heartbreak has struck Pawsibilities Animal Rescue in Harleysville, Montgomery County, after a devastating fire engulfed its barn, killing at least 15 special needs cats.
This tragedy follows another fire at a nearby animal rescue, marking a difficult week for the community.
What we know:
On Sunday, a fire broke out at Pawsibilities Animal Rescue, which houses cats with medical problems, behavior issues, or those who had not found their forever homes.
Despite the efforts of dozens of firefighters from five departments, the barn and most of the cats inside could not be saved.
This incident comes just days after a fire at The House of Wiggles goat farm and sanctuary in Upper Gwynedd, where about 40 animals, mostly goats, perished.
Investigators have stated that the two fires do not appear to be related.
What they're saying:
Madison Felbinger, a volunteer, expressed the profound loss: "It’s just so awful looking at it knowing what it was and what has been there for so long and it’s just gone in an instant," she said.
Samantha Carroll, who runs Pawsibilities Animal Rescue, shared her devastation. "Luckily there were no volunteers in there, so that’s good," said Carroll.
Glenn Jasler, another volunteer, recounted the urgency of the situation.
"I feel terrible. We’ve rescued many cats from this shelter. We were at home taking care of our new puppies. I got the call from Kevin, we put the puppies away, I told my wife, and we got here as fast as we could," said Jasler.
"There’s no words to describe the feeling, just kind of like emptiness, just heavy sadness," Felbinger described the emotional impact.
"The fear in the animals... they don’t know what’s going on, and I hope they didn’t suffer too much. I mean, they should still be here with us, but they’re not," Jasler added.
What's next:
Despite the tragedy, the owners of Pawsibilities are determined to continue their mission.
"We will rebuild bigger and better and keep doing what we’re doing," Kevin McGinnis stated.
"We’ll keep going. We still have a lot of cats, just not here. We still have our place in Skippack with our adoption center and have about 20 cats that are looking for homes," Carroll affirmed.
Madison encouraged community support.
"Anything you can do, donate, visit their adoption center in Skippack, love on the cats there that are still safe and sound and healthy," she said.
What you can do:
If you’d like to donate to help Pawsibilities rebuild or support the cats at their Skippack location, click here.
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