Without a doubt, the old saying that cats have nine lives is apparently true for the Salty Cats of the St. Andrews Rescue Group from Panama City.
The head of Salty Cats, Jackie Mihal, said that on the day of the unbelievable rescue that was conducted, smoke started rolling in pretty fast.
Namely, on one Friday, flames from Adkins Avenue reached Mihal’s home where she keeps the cats within several buildings on the property.
In minutes, Mihal evacuated her home and while she was packing her whole life in seconds, the task started to become more challenging when she realized she’ll have to evacuate the cats as well.
She had 86 cats in the shelter and one bunny. Unfortunately, she didn’t have enough cages for all the animals. This is when she got help from three total strangers.
Mihal says she couldn’t have done it without them.
Three Strangers Help Out a Woman to Evacuate almost 90 Cats
Mihal got offered help by Scott Morris, Brian Salmon, and Scott Trunzo who happened to be in the area.
She said was like a miracle and all four of them evacuated all of the animals safely. She doesn’t exactly recall how she got them in the cage and how these guys came, but they were there for a reason.
Like plenty of other people from the area, Mihal also stayed behind during the category 5 Hurricane Michael back in 2018, but this wildfire was more traumatic. She notes how fire develops quickly and that the smoke covered the building.
Even though all of them are safe now, she says she has trouble sleeping and has flashes of fire. The poor animals also experienced trauma and some of them aren’t eating or are pulling their hair out because of the stress from the fire.
The buildings for the cat rescue are intact, but this may not be the case for long as the fire progresses. Mihal said she will need thousands of dollars to repair the damage due to the supplies becoming non-usable because of the smoke toxins.
The Salty Cats are therefore urging people to donate necessary items they need which can be left at the American Legion Post 392 at 535 Oak Avenue.
They’re looking for:
- Food for bunnies
- Horse bedding pellets
- Litter pans and cat litter scoopers
- Canned food for cats
- Small cat food dishes
- Housebreaking pads
- Large bags for waste
- Disinfectant wipes
- Metal pet crates
- Bleach
- Saline eyedrops
- Dishwashing soap and laundry soap
They’re also searching for a potential unit for storage and help from a local laundromat where they can wash the dirty cat towels.
If you want to, you can also adopt some of the cats. All of the 86 cats are available for adoption.
Learn more here.
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