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You are here: Home / Kitty Wisdom / Give New Hope to Last Hope Cat Kingdom

Give New Hope to Last Hope Cat Kingdom

January 4, 2011 By: Sparkle Cat30 Comments

The office after the fireIt was the sort of accident that sends chills throughout anyone who has ever run or volunteered at a pet rescue when they hear about it. In the early morning hours of Friday, December 31, an electrical fire broke out in the office of Last Hope Cat Kingdom near Atwater, CA. Smoke poured from a vent in the office into four of the six resident cat rooms. Even though the cats had access doors to the outside, many of them panicked and were not able to escape. Around 150 cats lived at the sanctuary and over 60, many of them seniors and longtime residents, perished.

The temporary shelter at Last Hope went up Saturday.This was the second devastating heartbreak for Last Hope’s owner, Renate Schmitz. Two and a half years ago, her daughter Ramona was murdered in front of her two children. Ramona’s boyfriend, who was the prime suspect, killed himself a few days later. Renate took in her two granddaughters and took up her daughter’s cause, which was Last Hope. Until her death, the sanctuary had been Ramona’s passion, and Renate kept it running in her honor.

As we all know, small sanctuaries such as Last Hope are not flush with money, and the fire caused at least $25,000 damage, not to mention the anguish of losing so many of its residents. But Renate is determined to rebuild and a temporary structure has gone up to house the surviving cats. Many people are coming through with funds and needed supplies, such as blankets, kitty litter, crates and food. Some who live near Merced County, where Atwater is located, are volunteering their services to get things running again at Last Hope. I am hoping that you will help too.

Two cats who survived the tragedy.

There is a donation link on Last Hope’s website.

Visit their Facebook page to find out the latest news, and their latest needs.

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Comments

  1. Sara Cat writes, Sweden says

    January 6, 2011 at 7:17 am

    How horrible! This sounds simlar to what happened here in Sweden a year ago when a cat shelter burned when it was freezing cold. I’m glad that you are telling us about this. They can get help through donations. Thanks to donations and local volunteers, the Swedish cat shelter that burned last year could get going again. So it is possible.
    Purrs,
    Sara Cat

    Reply
  2. Eric and Flynn says

    January 6, 2011 at 2:40 am

    That is so heartbreaking. We just went to their site via your link. We will get mum to make a donation.

    Reply
  3. Spitty-the-Kitty says

    January 4, 2011 at 8:15 pm

    I made the Human pull out her plastic card and send them some green papers, though I don’t quite get how the little plastic card turns into green papers but she says it does so I guess I’ll trust her on that one.

    Reply
  4. Cory says

    January 4, 2011 at 5:54 pm

    This is just so sad. We hope they can rebuild, but those precious cats who lost their lives…oh that makes me cry.

    Reply
  5. Cat's Cats says

    January 4, 2011 at 4:13 pm

    Such a tragedy, I certainly hope that Renate will be able to rebuild the shelter. A similar thing happened at Christmastime in 2008 when a fire broke out at Oshawa Humane Society (a suburb east of Toronto) and more than 100 animals, mostly cats perished. Two years later I still remember this with great sadness! I wish them the best of luck!

    Reply
  6. Abby says

    January 4, 2011 at 3:24 pm

    What a tragedy, and we can understand why this would be so devastating..We are glad that they are going to rebuild.
    One thing that always worries me is that in case of a fire, our kitties would panic too, and it would be impossible to get to them.It is a worry that continues to cross my mind.

    ♥♥♥♥♥♥
    purrin
    xoxoxox
    ♥♥♥♥♥♥

    Reply
  7. Carla says

    January 4, 2011 at 2:13 pm

    What a wonderful post! Thank you for sharing. Popping in to see how to help:)

    Reply
  8. Mr Puddy says

    January 4, 2011 at 1:19 pm

    That was so terrible ! Thank you for this news. Me and mom will see what we can help.
    And I will tweet this news straight away !

    Reply
  9. Brian says

    January 4, 2011 at 12:49 pm

    That just breaks my heart. I know they will bounce back with lots of love and help.

    Reply
  10. Fuzzy Tales says

    January 4, 2011 at 10:20 am

    Absolutely heartbreaking. We went and made a small donation to help. 🙁

    Reply
  11. Simba says

    January 4, 2011 at 10:12 am

    How very sad that the fire happened at all, and even more so that many cats perished. It is very good and helpful for you to post this information and link, Sparkle.

    Reply
  12. Pricilla says

    January 4, 2011 at 9:33 am

    It is very sad for a family to have had so much heartbreak.
    We are sending all of our positive goat thoughts. We wish we had some money but we don’t right now.
    We are sorry. If they have fundraisers we would be happy to send soaps.

    Reply
  13. Cheysuli says

    January 4, 2011 at 9:31 am

    Oh such a heart breaking story.

    Reply
  14. BeadedTail says

    January 4, 2011 at 9:22 am

    Oh no, this is so horrible. Our mommy is very leaky right now. What a tragedy to happen to those poor kitties. We’ll go see what we can do to help out.

    Reply
  15. Big Baby and Little Boo Boo says

    January 4, 2011 at 9:20 am

    Big Baby and Little Boo Boo at Brawny Cat feel very bad about this so they are sending a dozen of their Scratch’n Slumber Sleeky Loungers down to their cousins at Last Hope.
    If anyone else wants to donate one or two, just go to brawnycat.com – Big Baby says she will put a special donation price on them and ship them in your name to the Cat Kingdom for free.

    Reply
  16. Katnip Lounge says

    January 4, 2011 at 9:08 am

    Mommy and Daddy saw this on the news and they both cried. Thanks for posting a link, Sparkle.

    Reply
  17. Toby & Leia says

    January 4, 2011 at 6:38 am

    This is heartbreaking. We’ll send what we can.

    Reply
  18. Hannah and Lucy says

    January 4, 2011 at 5:49 am

    How awful this happened and so many kitties overcome with the smoke or too frightened to
    move. We’ll have to have a talk with the mum and see if she will send a little something.

    Reply
  19. caren gittleman says

    January 4, 2011 at 4:53 am

    thanks so much for posting this….I am going to hurry and share this and see what else I can do. xoxo

    Reply
  20. The Poupounette says

    January 4, 2011 at 4:31 am

    Thanks for letting us know Sparkle. We stopped by their site with a little something.

    Purrs,
    The Chans

    Reply
  21. mariodacat says

    January 4, 2011 at 4:21 am

    Thanks for that information friend. That is such a very sad sad story. How very tragic for the anipals and oomans.

    Reply
  22. Daisy the Curly Cat says

    January 4, 2011 at 4:19 am

    Oh this is so heartbreaking. Thanks for letting us know, Sparkle, because it looks like they can really use some help.

    Reply
  23. The Island Cats says

    January 4, 2011 at 4:15 am

    This story broke our hearts when we heard it. We’ll see what we can do to help the kitties.

    Reply
  24. Noir the Texas Tabby says

    January 4, 2011 at 3:47 am

    I’m makin’ sure Tommy parts with some of her cash–she can hold off Starbucks for a morning or two–these kitties and humans need our help. Thanks for letting us know, Sparkle! You are quite the Super model!

    Noir

    Reply
  25. Marg says

    January 4, 2011 at 3:46 am

    Oh Sparkle, I am so glad you wrote about this. I have a little blurb in my post but this is much better. I didn’t realize that the girl had been murdered and the Mom took over. How wonderful is that. I hope people will donate some money. Thanks for such a good post in hopes that everyone will help some. Take care.

    Reply
  26. Max the Quilt Cat says

    January 4, 2011 at 3:26 am

    Thanks for letting us know Sparkle. I’ll get HH to go to that donation site when she gets up.

    pawhugs, Max

    Reply
  27. Fui, Suey and Lishy says

    January 4, 2011 at 2:23 am

    Oh my. That is absolutely awful. We send lots of purrs and healing thoughts to all those left to deal with the aftermath.

    There was a fire at our Cat Protection Society shelter during the day on Christmas Eve. That is where our Dahlia and a couple of her kittens are still waiting for their homes. We were incredibly lucky that the timing and location meant it was able to be put out without any injury to human or kitty. This just brings it home even more.

    Reply
  28. C.A.T. says

    January 4, 2011 at 12:39 am

    Whether for cats or humans, loosing a home is a devastating thing.
    Hope they can get new places soon.

    Reply
  29. The Florida Furkids and Angel Sniffie says

    January 4, 2011 at 12:30 am

    What a terrible thing to have happen. We hope they can collect lots of green papers.

    The Florida Furkids and Angel Sniffie

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Thankful Thursday: You | Sparkle the Designer Cat says:
    April 29, 2013 at 12:10 am

    […] a cat in need, I’m reminded once again that I have the awesomest readers! When I posted about the fire at Last Hope Cat Kingdom a couple of days ago, I think it moved every last one of you. Many of you donated (and some I am […]

    Reply

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