A fundraiser has been set up for the animal hospital in Durham that was destroyed by a fire last week.
Seven cats were killed after an accidental fire broke out at Falconbridge Animal Hospital. Durham officials confirmed that the fire originated in the break room of the facility.
The fire was extinguished on Tuesday evening, but rekindled and broke out again early Wednesday morning.
More than a dozen dogs and one iguana were rescued from the facility and have been treated for smoke inhalation. No employees or firefighters were injured.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for Falconbridge Animal Hospital. At the time of writing, the fundraiser has already raised $9,920 of the $10,000 goal.
The fundraiser shares the story of Dr. Shelli Karl-McKinney and her staff at Falconbridge Animal Hospital.
On the night of Tuesday the 6th of August, Falconbridge Animal Hospital caught fire by an unknown source. Dr. Shelli Karl-McKinney rushed to the clinic only to find her facility and company that she has built for 20+ years engulfed in flames. They rushed in to try to save as many animals as they could. When she went in, the cat room had already been saturated with smoke and therefore all of them perished in the fire, including her very own 19 year old cat pirate. All of the dogs that were in the back of the clinic were rescued and sent to the emergency hospital across the street. Dr. Karl and her team spent the entire night making sure that the animals were safe but all they could think about was how much their care for animals would be impacted in the near future. After the fire crew left around 2:30, another fire broke out. But this time it was a lot bigger than the first one. After spending all night making sure the fire was out, the reality set in that her new building of only 8 years was gone. Everything inside was also damaged, leaving them with nothing.
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