A fire that broke out at an east Auckland house claimed the lives of 11 cats while more than a dozen others were rescued from the burning dwelling.
Local firefighters responded to a call from neighbours of the two-storey Golflands house at about 10.40am on July 28.
The home’s owner, Jewels Annabell, was at work in the CBD when the fire broke out.
She was phoned by neighbours and got a taxi back to east Auckland.
Annabell has been left effectively homeless by the fire, which started on a bench top in the kitchen.
She’s a member of the Community Cat Coalition and will be known to local animal lovers as the driving force behind the Street Kitties cat rescue and re-homing service, which she ran from her house.
The fire tragically killed 11 cats, many of which were inside large cages in the lounge.
A number of cats were pulled alive from the burning house.
“I don’t even really care about the house but it’s not ideal,” Annabell says. “I’m so devastated.”
She and five or six of her cats, which she says need to be under observation, are now staying with a neighbour while she deals with the emotional trauma of losing so many beloved felines.
“People are offering to foster them for me but I just want them with me,” she says.
Other surviving cats have been placed with different veterinary practices for treatment.
Annabell says she’s “so grateful” that a Givealittle page set up to help her cover costly vet bills has so far received more than $22,000 in donations.
She’s keen to hear from anyone in east Auckland who can offer her accommodation while her home is inspected and repaired.
“Insurance will pay for me to stay somewhere but it’s a big ask because I’d like to be somewhere local.”
She says she’s “heartbroken” and feels guilty about so many of her cats dying in the fire.
“There are things I could have done differently which would have meant more of them would have survived.
“My two indoor cats who belong to me, they could have been in the outdoor enclosure, which they quite often were.
“And I was meaning to move five others into the bathroom.
“They would have survived, but I didn’t [move them] and they died.
“They were just starting to come around.”
Howick fire station officer John Searle says one firefighter doused the blaze in the kitchen while others searched the property for cats.
They broke the front door and put a fan inside the entry to try to clear the smoke, he says.
“We treated it like a person search but we went in and searched for cats.
“It wasn’t very pleasant. There were cats in bedrooms and some that were free.
“They were closed in different rooms and it was good she closed the doors as that kept the smoke out of the rooms cats were in.”
Searle says a fire investigator visited the property and the cause of the fire is not suspicious.
To donate toward Jewels Annabell’s vet bills, go to https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/please-help-this-angel-save-her-surviving-rescue
Anyone who can offer her accommodation can email nojunkjewels@gmail.com.
