Fire at Long Island cat shelter kills owner, many animals
A fire at a decades-old neighborhood cat sanctuary on New York's Long Island killed the community's beloved "Cat Man" and dozens of the animals.
By Carolyn Gusoff
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LONG ISLAND, New York (WCBS) — A fire at a decades-old neighborhood cat sanctuary on New York’s Long Island killed the community’s beloved “Cat Man” and dozens of the animals.
Chris Arsenault, who opened the sprawling Happy Cat Sanctuary on his property in Medford, died trying to save as many cats as possible during the fire Monday, one of his volunteers said.
Animal shelter owner, cats die in house fire A furious effort is underway to rescue the surviving animals after Arsenault’s home on Dourland Road went up in flames at around 7:15 a.m., Suffolk County Police said.
“He was trying to put the fire out and he kept going back in and out of the house to get cats out, and then he went in and he didn’t come out,” Lisa Jaeger, a Happy Cat Sanctuary volunteer, said. “He would come out, he would go in and out with his last breath because that’s who he was.”
“I’ve been told that there are in excess of 100 cats, both living and deceased,” said Suffolk County Police Chief of Detectives William Doherty. “We haven’t determined the exact number of deceased and surviving cats.”
In the meantime, rescuers set up feeding stations while they figure out a place for the remaining cats to go.
“We have food coming, we have vets on call,” Frankie Floridia, with Strong Island Animal Rescue, said.
As many as 200 cats are believed to still be alive.
Neighbors reported hearing an explosion
Neighbors said they heard what sounded like a propane tank explosion when the fire started, but investigators say it’s too early to determine the cause.
“At this point, we can’t draw any conclusions. It’s just too early in the investigation,” Doherty said.
The Town of Brookhaven said it previously “has investigated and rendered multiple violations against the property and against the owner.”
“Currently, the town has numerous district court action and have had them in the past and again now,” Town of Brookhaven Fire Marshal Christopher Mehrman said.
Owner planned to move before deadly fire After the fire, fellow animal rescuers descended onto the block to remember Arsenault, who created the cat sanctuary after his son’s death two decades ago in a motorcycle crash.
“He always did right by them. These are cats that nobody else wanted, some surrenders, some that were living on the street,” Mia Giardini said.
“They were healthy, they were well fed, well taken care of. He had a very kind heart and this is really tragic,” Ellen Pavlakis, of Cold Spring Harbor, said.
Arsenault recently announced plans to move upstate after conceding that some neighbors weren’t fans of his elaborate cat sanctuary.
An attorney for the Town of Brookhaven said in a statement to CBS News New York:
“The Town was working with the owner of 12 Dourland Road, Medford to bring his premises into compliance with town and state building codes. In the past few months, he was able to relocate 60-80 of his cats to his new cat sanctuary Upstate, where he was looking forward to moving. He had also removed the unsafe finished space in the basement and had hired an expeditor to obtain building permits for other alterations.”
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