Who was Chris Arsenault, the man who loved cats, who died in a fire after saving 200 from his flames cat

Dying heroically for the love of animals, after life had already put him to the test. It happened in Long Island, in the state of New York. Here a large catty hosted more than 300 cats: it was the Happy Cat Sanctuary, which has been totally destroyed in recent days by a ruinous fire, and he was Chris Arsenault.

Of the flames they had suddenly enveloped, perhaps for a stove exploded close to a propane tank, the wonderful structure, a real sanctuary for cats, and Chris did not think about it for a moment: he ran up and down, back and forth, trying to save as many animals could.

Until he came out of there anymore.

He saved at least 200 – says a volunteer of the refuge – he entered and left to save as many cats as possible, until he went back.

Before the fire, the structure housed around 300 feline specimens, while another 100 had recently been transferred to a new location.

After the fire was tamed by the firefighters, the cats left inside the structure have been entrusted to veterinarians, some have serious burns, while other respiratory problems. About 100 specimens, however, did not make it.

In 2006, a silent and devastating tragedy struck Chris’ life: the Loss of his son Erictorn away at the age of 24, in a motorcycle accident. An immense pain, that no word could soothe, but which in some way found a sense: it was precisely in that void that his heart found the strength to be reborn.

He poured all the love that he still wore within himself in a colony of cats, where thirty sick puppies needed care and a refuge. He collected them, one by one, and looked after them with a dedication that only a heart that has known the pain can understand. So it was that, through his pain, a refuge was born for many other felines, a place where every life, even the most fragile one, could be reborn.