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[RC] OT But rescue shelter needs help - Ashley KemererThere is an emergency in Point Pleasant (Mason County) West Virginia.Their animal shelter ( http://masoncounty.petfinder.com ) just had a gas explosion and fire, and many animals are dead and injured. Shelter workers are burned from trying to go in after the animals. One worker lost her own personal cats in the fire. If you are near there and can help, please email Trish McDonald at savethedogs@xxxxxxx and please copy Sally at: sally_cammack@xxxxxxxxx and Robin (FurryFriendsNet@xxxxxxx ) if you can offer any assistance. WARNING: THIS IS VERY UPSETTING TO READ. Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 20:53:00 +0000 WV: MASON CO SHELTER IS ON FIRE! GAS EXPLOSION! From: "Trish McDonald" savethedogs@xxxxxxx MASON COUNTY RESCUERS & SUPPORTERS, WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW MORE THAN EVER! 11/22/05 approximately 3:00 pm I just got calls from Sally & Missy and I'm pretty hysterical at the moment, so sorry if this is rambling. The shelter is burning. Gas valve blew, explosion, building extremely damaged, probably a complete loss. Cats and dogs are dead. Danielle (shelter manager) is out alive but has suffered smoke inhalation (from going back in to rescue animals) and is on her way to the hospital. Her own cats died in the fire. As far as I know the rest of the staff got out ok. Shelter phone is dead. Danielle has been able to reach Sally via another phone, but I don't have the number. Sheriff, fire, ambulance are all at the shelter now. Phone calls are coming in fast and furious as I'm writing this...updating along the way. Hope it all makes sense. Some dogs are out alive...running loose. Not sure how many because they were just letting out whatever dogs they could reach and they're now running loose. Will be rounded up later. Early estimate is maybe 50-60 dogs were pulled out. I just spoke to Derrick. They're rounding them up now. He's ok physically, emotionally a wreck. He's called in friends to come and take dogs to emergency foster. The recycling center has offered to hold some dogs for us too. Missy is on her way down there now. Emergency foster homes are needed NOW!!! ALL of the cats are dead...they couldn't get to the cat room. Puppies are probably all dead...they couldn't get through the smoke to the puppy room to save them. Some dogs are dead, not all, no idea who got out out. They got them out fast. Just opened kennels and pushed them outside. WOWK TV was there at the time doing an interview. The furnace installation guy and the woman doing the interview were burned. Please pray for them. All remaining animals MUST get out to rescue ASAP. There's NO WHERE to put them! No building to use. Maybe some outdoor pens, but that's about it. Rescues, HELP HELP HELP!!!! Sue Potter is going down there this weekend to do a transport back up through PA to CT. Anyone who can rescue or foster, please contact Missy at x5dogs@xxxxxxx. Missy is headed to the shelter now and may not be online for awhile, so please copy Sally at: sally_cammack@xxxxxxxxx and Robin ( FurryFriendsNet@xxxxxxx if you can offer any assistance. Please pray for everyone involved. These people have worked so hard to try to make a difference for the animals in Mason County and they keep suffering setback after setback. From what I've heard via the first hurried phone calls is that it appears the building is a complete loss. Missy thinks the outside kennels are still usable. http://masoncounty.petfinder.com Trish 11/22/05 approximately 3:00 pm It is with the heaviest of hearts that I write this post. I can't stop crying. We need help! There's been a gas explosion at the Mason County shelter in Point Pleasant WV. It happened during the installation of the new heating system. All of the following information was gathered in the first hour after the explosion. Details may change as things settle down and volunteers get there to help assess the situation. All of the staff members made it out alive. Danielle, the shelter director, has suffered smoke inhalation from going back in to rescue animals. Of all the cats/kittens at the shelter, only one made it out alive. It had to be resuscitated. No idea if it will live. It is believed that all of the puppies died in the fire and smoke...the staff couldn't get to the puppy or cat rooms to pull them out. They were able to get to the large dog kennels and pull out a lot of the dogs. They basically pushed them out the door and the dogs are running loose. Not all got out. Some died in the initial explosion, others probably of smoke inhalation. Initial estimate is that approximately 50-60 dogs were pushed out the door by the dedicated kennel staff who refused to give up trying to save them. At the moment, the building appears to be a total loss. All they have is possibly the use of a few outside pens. The remaining dogs are being rounded up now. It's cold in WV...there's no indoor place to house these animals. Supplies needed (I'm sure this list will grow) Dog food Water & food bowls Leashes & collars They need a building...can someone in or near Mason County WV loan them the use of a vacant building until they can move these dogs out to rescues? For location purposes, their zip code is 25550. Shelter is located in Point Pleasant. The rescues they work with on a regular basis have been contacted and hopefully will be able to take some dogs into foster care. This is the home of the Mason County Animal Welfare League (MCAWL), a group of volunteers that have been trying to make this a no-kill shelter. If you've seen any posts about them recently, you know how hard they've been working to help these animals. Email contacts are volunteers who are not located at the shelter, so anyone wishing to help can still reach them via the email address on the website: MasonCAWL@xxxxxxxxx Here is the Petfinder site: http://masoncounty.petfinder.com As we find out which dogs are alive, we will put the word ALIVE next to their name on the site. PLEASE CROSSPOST EVERYWHERE Thank you!
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