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The Toronto Star wrote:Dec 17, 2008 02:51 PM
Comments on this story (12)
Alex Cooper Staff reporter
STAFF REPORTER

A massive fire at the Durham Humane Society in Oshawa this morning killed more than 150 animals, but firefighters managed to rescue eight dogs and two cats.

In total about 150 cats, three dogs and an assortment of rabbits, guinea pigs, mice and rats were killed by smoke inhalation.

Oshawa Fire Services were called to the blaze at 199 Waterloo St. shortly after 2 a.m.

"Fire personnel entered the building and handed rescued animals to police," said Susan King, chief fire prevention officer.

The rescued animals were put in police cars until Oshawa Animal Services officers could take them to an 24-hour animal hospital in Whitby.

Of the rescued animals, two cats and one dog are being treated for smoke inhalation while seven other dogs were taken to the Oshawa animal shelter on Farewell Street.

The Toronto Humane Society stated on its website that it was "was deeply saddened to hear of the tragic fire" and was offering to take food, supplies and other necessities to the animals in need, as well as help find new homes for the animals.

"Right now we're just trying to help out the animals," said Toronto Humane Society spokesperson Ian McConachie.

A grief councillor has been enlisted to help workers and volunteers.

Damage to the building is estimated at $250,000.

The cause of the fire is not known.

This is fucking despicable. One of our cats was adopted from there, I feel absolutely horrible right now....

It'd be despicable if it were arson, maybe, but until they say whether it was intentional or an accident, its, instead, a horrible tragedy.

My wife and I had gone there a few months ago when we were looking for a playmate for Dash.

Those poor animals.

Why so many cats?

People are retarded when it comes to controlling feline breeding; kittens, after all, are so cute

Wait a minute. Why is this newsworthy when there are people starving to death on the other side of the planet again? I mean, don't get me wrong here, I like cats too, but honestly, who gives a shit about a few hundred cats when thousands of people are dying elsewhere?

Oh wait... Shit. I think I was at one of the fire stations that responded to that yesterday. They said they had come back from a big one.

Ryan Thunder wrote:Wait a minute. Why is this newsworthy when there are people starving to death on the other side of the planet again? I mean, don't get me wrong here, I like cats too, but honestly, who gives a shit about a few hundred cats when thousands of people are dying elsewhere?

Because it's incredibly easy to sympathize with the loss of animals most of us have had as pets, and a single thread is simple to ignore if you don't think it's newsworthy and you have nothing to contribute besides questioning whether it's newsworthy or not?

Wait a minute. Why is this newsworthy when there are people starving to death on the other side of the planet again? I mean, don't get me wrong here, I like cats too, but honestly, who gives a shit about a few hundred cats when thousands of people are dying elsewhere?

Because your average newswatcher doesn't give a shit about people one the other side of the world, particularly when they die in droves like clockwork every day.

Ryan Thunder wrote:Wait a minute. Why is this newsworthy when there are people starving to death on the other side of the planet again? I mean, don't get me wrong here, I like cats too, but honestly, who gives a shit about a few hundred cats when thousands of people are dying elsewhere?

Oh wait... Shit. I think I was at one of the fire stations that responded to that yesterday. They said they had come back from a big one.

Because animals feel pain and suffer like people do? Because dogs and cats are as much members of people's families as children and in a lot of people's minds you might as well be asking "Why is the burning down of an orphanage newsworthy when there are entire countries dying of AIDS?"?

Samuel wrote:Why so many cats?

The fire could have been centered in the "cat wing" of the shelter.

I don't know about this particular shelter, but the Humane Society in Boise has a seperate "dog" and "cat" area. A fire in one would wipe out that population, while not necessarily leading to damage in the other.


And, Ryan Thunder, we frequently have threads in here about people being killed all over. Including those maimed in attacks, shot be repressive governments, or where things like rape, amputation, and medecine denial is being used as a tool of war.

And you know what? Even after all that, we still have enough compassion left over to share with our beloved animal population, which trusts us to look after them.

That said, this thread is clearly a human interest story which I think should have probably been posted in Off-topic. My first thought on clicking on it was "why the hell is this stuff still getting posted in N&P"? That said it is pretty miserable that a bunch of perfectly innocent cats were killed. *sigh* But then again, it's also pretty miserable when someone gets kidnapped and murdered, and I believe we specifically send those kinds of threads to OT.

Ryan Thunder wrote:Wait a minute. Why is this newsworthy when there are people starving to death on the other side of the planet again? I mean, don't get me wrong here, I like cats too, but honestly, who gives a shit about a few hundred cats when thousands of people are dying elsewhere?

One reason many people are saddened when animals die like this is that animals in situations like this are totally helpless to escape on their own.

That aside, there is enough compassion to worry about both human animals and non-human animals. No one here is remotely suggesting that it be mutually exclusive.

I imagine the shelter workers and volunteers are devastated.

Samuel wrote:Why so many cats?

Because.

1.) Cats are high density; at my dog pound, the cats are in cages that go from nearly floor to ceiling; easily can get 50 cats in a relatively small room; while the dogs have a lot more room. This not only means more dense fatalities, but also allows smoke to more rapidly fill the room.

2.) Cats are meaner and stupider. You can at least get dogs going in the right direction by poking them with a stick or opening a door; they'll all make a beehive for it. Cats on the other hand, are more "independent", and most firemen do not carry "anti scratch gloves".

Human interest, moved to OT.

I don't see what is so horrible about some animals dieing by accident, as long as human incompetence/malice played no part in their deaths. I mean, shit happens. Generally, I don't empathize with dead animals since they are everywhere and there is nothing I can do about it. Of course, I empathize with living animals, and feel a need to prevent suffering should I see it. But this whole thing was probably out of human hands. Is it a tragedy everytime you see a dead animal on the ground? I just ignore them and go about my business.

fuzzymillipede wrote:I don't see what is so horrible about some animals dieing by accident, as long as human incompetence/malice played no part in their deaths. I mean, shit happens. Generally, I don't empathize with dead animals since they are everywhere and there is nothing I can do about it. Of course, I empathize with living animals, and feel a need to prevent suffering should I see it. But this whole thing was probably out of human hands. Is it a tragedy everytime you see a dead animal on the ground? I just ignore them and go about my business.

The problem is we don't know if it was by accident or not. Besides, dozens of animals being killed in a single place is just a teensy bit different than seeing the occasional stray by the side of the road.

fuzzymillipede wrote:I don't see what is so horrible about some animals dieing by accident, as long as human incompetence/malice played no part in their deaths. I mean, shit happens. Generally, I don't empathize with dead animals since they are everywhere and there is nothing I can do about it. Of course, I empathize with living animals, and feel a need to prevent suffering should I see it. But this whole thing was probably out of human hands. Is it a tragedy everytime you see a dead animal on the ground? I just ignore them and go about my business.

The animals were being housed in a location intended to keep them safe, so there is a sad irony that so many of them they met their ends there in this way.

The same people who go hunting with no feelings of concern for their prey will also put themselves at risk to pluck a stray dog or sometimes even a moose out of the icy waters of a pond or lake. Many people have an especially strong connection to animals in distress, especially companion animals. Just imagine how awful this must be for the shelter workers who spend so much time trying to care for and get these animals adopted on a daily basis. No doubt many of these animals were potential pets that may not stay long, but there were surely some number that were more or less permanent residents at the shelter (perhaps unadoptable for some reason) yet which were happily cared for by the staff.

I really don't see how this is hard to understand.

fuzzymillipede wrote:Is it a tragedy everytime you see a dead animal on the ground? I just ignore them and go about my business.

If I see a dead dog or cat on the ground it would upset me yes. Dogs and cats are both domesticated species and it's our responsibility to take care of them, and I happen to like dogs and cats alot.

The greatest irony is that preliminary reports suggest that the MICE did it.

They chewed wires in the ceiling which started the fire, killing their hated enemies, the cats.

His Divine Shadow wrote:

fuzzymillipede wrote:Is it a tragedy everytime you see a dead animal on the ground? I just ignore them and go about my business.

If I see a dead dog or cat on the ground it would upset me yes. Dogs and cats are both domesticated species and it's our responsibility to take care of them, and I happen to like dogs and cats alot.

I understand the upset, and yeah, it'd upset me too. I dunno if I'd go tell everybody about it, though.