The Hunt for Fire Cats Amid Northern California Ashes

[douglas9]

SANTA ROSA, Calif. — When a firestorm swept down the hillsides of Sonoma County, bringing terror to this tight grid of thousands of homes, dogs tended to rush to their masters.

But cats went in the opposite direction, ignoring the pleas of panicked owners and disappearing amid the chaotic evacuation.

Finding the missing cats that fled the October wildfires has been an impassioned quest for Jennifer Petruska, an animal lover whose home, pets included, was one of the few in her neighborhood to be spared.

Ms. Petruska has spent nearly every night since the fires tracking and trapping fire cats, as she calls them, the felines that for weeks have remained missing because of stubbornness, trauma, instinct, or a mix of all three.

Catching cats can be tricky in the best of circumstances but she and her team of volunteers have caught more than 70. They believe many dozens more are on the loose.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/01/us/fire-cats-california.html?ref=todayspaper

[Rhiannon12866]

1. Oh no! Kudos to her for her compassion and hard work!

[narnian60]

2. +100

[Lucinda]

3. ...

[haele]

4. Our Princess was a fire cat from the 2007 fires.

We got her from the city pound, she was a grumpy momma cat "stray" who was had been caught in a have a heart near a burn area with no one to claim her for nearly year.
She still hates fire alarms (or any loud alarms) and sirens, and will actively avoid any open flame.
Poor baby girl.

Haele