Watching your life crumble before your eyes is a painful experience. After witnessing her house burn down, a poor woman also lost her animal companions as a direct consequence of the catastrophe.
This woman wanted to check for her two cats, but firemen had told her they had perished due to the tragedy. Miraculously, the bereaved pet owner later found her felines unharmed.
October 2022 put Sarah Ruehlen through the wringer. First, a fire started in her Lubbock, Texas, apartment.
Therefore, the helpless woman witnessed her belongings turn into dark dust. The firefighters were called to the spot but could only do so much.
Furthermore, these workers broke Sarah another terrible news. They had witnessed one of her cats escaping the building via a window, but sadly, the other two had perished in the blaze.
The terrible news undoubtedly left Sarah in a state of utter devastation.
Soon, she received a call notifying her that Puff, the kitten who got away, was found. The critter had sought safety at the home of a neighbor.
A few days later, a grieving Sarah decided that she needed to return to the location where her pets had died to reclaim their remains.
She desired to give the departed kittens a respectful burial and to be able to mourn in more comfortable surroundings.
With a restraining order against the dangerous apartment, she called a rescue group to help locate the other pets. Led by veteran Joe Hernandez, the search for the cat began.
Hernandez is well-known for using a drone to rescue dogs and restore them to their owners. He explained to KCBD:
“The biggest thing was I just wanted to give them closure…Whether deceased or alive, people need closure. That’s the worst thing is not knowing what’s wrong or where your animal is”
Throughout the day, many of Sarah’s friends, neighbors, and strangers joined the hunt for the cats. They expected to retrieve bodies from the wreckage, but they were wrong.
Sarah reunites with her very-much-alive cats
After sifting through the rubble, Hernandez located Plotz, Sarah’s cat, alive but pinned under a wooden chest. He successfully trapped the cat and released it outside the building with the aid of his colleagues.
Moments later, a second cat emerged behind a fallen cat tree. It was Catsby, Sarah’s other cat.
The rescuers trapped the scared kitty and released it outdoors. Sarah Ruehlen was overcome with emotion at seeing her rescued pets again.
“I know that most of it is a total loss, and honestly, I’m OK with that because my cats are with me, and that’s all that really matters,” she said
Although they were shaken up, Puff, Plotz, and Catsby were all okay.
Sarah shared her gratitude for those who sacrificed their time and energy to preserve her animals.