The Re-Birth of Mid-Hudson Animal Aid

September 14, 2013 was a Saturday and like most weekends, the volunteers at Mid Hudson Animal Aid were busy tending to the care of their 150+ cats or taking part in fundraisers in the community. Running a shelter of this size takes a great effort by a dedicated team of people and the daily routine in this shelter was no different.

This particular Saturday, most of the staff happened to be away at a tag sale hoping to raise some money for MHAA’s many rescue programs. Audrey, the Shelter Manager, remarked at how unusual it was for the building to be so devoid of staff on a normally busy weekend. She was there early tending to some business when she smelled smoke. Not sure where it was coming from she started to check the small building doing a room by room search for the source. At the end of the Great Room is the Isolation Ward where incoming cats are separated from the residents of the facility to prevent the spread of disease.

Audrey opened the door and was knocked over by a cloud of black, noxious smoke. There was a fire ravaging the inside of the room and Audrey only had seconds do decide what to do next.

Fearing the fire would spread to the rest of the building, and potentially kill a majority of cats who were only feet away, Audrey quickly shut the door and began calling for help. The comfort of her daily routine was replace with abject terror. What would she do with the cats? They had to evacuate the building immediately.

After a quick call to 9-1-1, they got to work. Within 5 minutes the Beacon, NY fire department arrived. In many rural areas there aren’t any fire plugs to access water, so often times it has to be brought in by a tanker truck, which can make putting out a fire a much more difficult task. Fortunately, MHAA sits next to the Fishkill Creek so the trucks could immediately access enough water to put out the blaze that was now roaring inside the small room. The problem was, after they broke through a window to access the Isolation room and turned on the hose, the blast from the water blew the door off across the room and let water escape flooding much of the building and terrifying the cats still trapped inside.

As volunteers poured in, they filled as many cat carriers as they could with traumatized cats. Audrey made certain that everyone was safe. As soon as she could she returned to the Isolation room…or the charred wreck of what was left of it. What she saw next is every rescuers worst nightmare.

8 of their cats had perished.

4 cats went missing during the confusion. (to date 2 have been found)

2 kittens were abandoned at MHAA during the commotion while their building was on fire.

With a great deal of support, Audrey and her volunteers handled the logistics and were able to crate and find foster homes for ALL their cats.

In the 4 months since the fire, I had the honor of going to visit Audrey and meet many of their Board members, while I toured their facility and learned more about their programs.

The bottom line for them is the due to the fire, smoke and flooding they have to rebuild the interior of the facility, put in a new HVAC system and even though insurance won’t pay for it, they want to add a sprinkler system so this will NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. The latest tally on costs is $80,000.00 to get the job done…

…and we know it will probably end up costing more than that. Thankfully, through the help of people like Mike Bridavsky who is the daddy to Lil’ Bub, to the Cat Daddy-Jackson Galaxy, companies like World’s Best Cat Litter and so many others, over $57,000.00 has been raised. There’s still a long way to go and at the end of this post I’ll share some ways you can help.

What amazed me about MHAA, as I walked through what was left of their facility, was that they accept all cats. It is rare to find a rescue that accepts cats that are positive for Feline Leukemia. Most don’t want to risk spreading the disease to non-infected cats and there is so much fear about it that they just won’t take them on.

Cats that have FIV can also have a very tough time finding a home due to the stigma and fear that it is also contagious to other cats, but MHAA has an FIV Room. While FIV IS contagious it’s only through sexual contact or a DEEP puncture bite. If the cats are not fractious and basically are okay with other cats it’s not a concern. My own dear cat, Bob had FIV and it was never a worry.

Audrey talked to me about how they are very careful to set up protocols for keeping the cats healthy. They could rush cats out of Isolation and risk a ringworm outbreak or worse, but they don’t. They do the right thing for each and every cat’s health and I was pleased to know that.

I asked her if they did TNR (trap, neuter, return) of feral cats and she said no. They do the “T” and the “N” part, but not the “R” and I asked what that meant. I’ve never heard of a rescue doing this, but I LOVE IT. MHAA has a huge foster program so every single cat they trap, goes into a home to be socialized even if it takes a YEAR OR MORE to get them ready to be adopted! I thought she was pulling my leg. In my dreams I would set up a shelter and do this, but not in reality. I don’t know how they manage it, but somehow they make it happen.

MHAA’s building sits on an idyllic parcel of land, shaded by trees. The building is empty of its furry tenants. The rooms are silent, save for the occasional sound of a worker hammering sheet rock into place or the muffled tones of the staff having another planning meeting, trying to keep things going until they can move back into their facility.

The hope was that move-in would be 8 weeks after the devastating fire, but that was 4 weeks ago. Now they’re aiming to re-open early next year. I truly believe that due to their supportive community and with cat lovers like all of you, we can help make this happen.

If you’d like to be part of MHAA's transformation, you can visit their PetCaring Fundraiser page or if you’d prefer to get some holiday shopping done AND help MHAA, they are Jackson Galaxy’s Shelter of the Month and for every item you purchase from ResQthreads Don't You Dare Shop T-Shirt, they will make a donation of $10.00. Use the code: JACKSON to get free shipping.

You can LIKE Mid Hudson Animal Aid's Facebook Page to get updates on their rebuilding progress.