Almost all the shelter animals at the Sweetpea Friends of Rutland Animals kennel perished this week in a massive fire that engulfed the facility just before midnight on Sunday.
Massachusetts first responders successfully rescued four of the larger dogs and one cat, but, tragically, the rest of the smaller canines and all of the other felines died at the scene.
Fire marshals are still investigating the cause of the devastating blaze, which at this point is thought to have been “a heat or electrical source” that ignited one of the backrooms.
The resulting inferno completely totaled the main building where homeless animals were housed, but left a second structure on the property undamaged.
However, because the no-kill shelter performs such a vital function in the community, its managers are trying to recover from this heartbreaking disaster as quickly as possible.
They’re hoping animal lovers everywhere will consider helping them achieve that objective so that abandoned pets and strays in their district will have a warm, safe place to live this holiday season.
You can contribute to SweetPea kennel’s emergency crowd-funding campaign HERE.