This is the incredible story of a stray mother cat who defied fate, after running through a burning garage multiple times to save her kittens trapped inside. The brave cat heroically succeeded, even though that left severe burns on her body. Here’s her inspiring story!
The cat later named Scarlett, was a stray wondering the streets of Brooklyn, New York. She got pregnant and gave birth to her litter of five kittens into an abandoned garage in the neighborhood. But unfortunately, a fire broke out with the tiny creatures trapped inside. It was happening on 30th of March 1996.
After a few minutes a group of firefighters arrived at the scene. They were so impressed by what they’ve witnessed. While fighting the blaze, the firefighters noticed the brave cat carrying her kittens one by one to safety. Even though her ears, her paws and part of her coat were burned, she didn’t stopped until she saved all her five babies.
Once they reached safety, the mother cat touched all her babies with her nose, just to make sure they were all alive, and then collapsed to the ground. The cat and her kittens were later rushed to a vet clinic. One of the firefighters who witnessed the events, has later told the story.
In a imgur post, firefighter David Giannelli explained:
“Scarlett herself had been severely burned in the process of pulling her kittens from the fire. Her eyes were blistered shut, her ears and paws burned, and her coat highly singed,” the post reads. “The majority of her facial hair had been burnt away. After saving the kittens she was seen to touch each of her kittens with her nose to ensure they were all there and alive, as the blisters on her eyes kept her from being able to see them, and then she collapsed unconscious.”
Scarlett did survived as well as all her babies, and her heroism made waves on the media at the time. The brave mother cat was a source of inspiration even for some books, like The Bravest Cat and Scarlett Saves her Family.
The heroic Scarlett was eventually adopted by a family in Brooklyn where she happily live 12 years. She died peacefully in 2008. However, her incredible heroism stays alive long after. The The North Shore Animal League – that helped Scarlett and her kittens to find families at the time – named an award in her name. A reward they gave to heroic animals!
More about Scarlett’s inspiring story in the video below!
