A malnourished kitty trapped in a building after a massive Bronx fire was rescued Thursday — but five more pets are still stuck inside, owners and animal activists said.
Richie, an adorable 9-year-old orange tabby, was pulled from the charred rubble on East 187th Street, where an enormous blaze broke out two weeks ago, killing two people.
“We’re just happy he’s home now. We’re just happy that he’s here in our hands,” said one of Richie’s relived owners, Magaly Saavedra. “Another day, I think it would have been a lot worse.”
Four cats — including ones named Oreo, Milo and Coco — along with a turtle are still stuck inside, pet owners said.
Richie was captured in a cage by Animal Care and Control workers, who saw the frightened feline dart onto a fire escape during a rally staged by former residents of the fire-ravaged building Thursday.
Residents — who had gathered to demand they be let back inside the building to retrieve their pets — cheered and cried tears of joy as Richie was reunited with his emotional owners.
“He needs to get to a vet immediately to get checked for smoke inhalation. He is probably terrified. He thinks we abandoned him,” said one of his owners, Luciano Silva.
The FDNY and the Department of Buildings had ordered an evacuation and refused to let residents inside the mixed use building, citing safety concerns, after the blaze killed two people and injured a dozen on April 21.
“Let the cats out!” residents chanted at the rally, where roughly 20 people gathered Thursday. “FDNY do your job! We want our cats back!”
As the fire raged, Silva said he tried to grab Richie and save him but the cat got spooked and fled.
“I had Richie, but since he was so scared, he clawed at me and ran back inside. The smoke was so heavy,” he said. “I wanted to follow, but I know what would have happened if I did.”
“We were able to get our dogs out, but our cats, they’re so scared, they went to run back inside. Thankfully, we’ve seen sightings of them earlier,” Silva said before Richie’s rescue Thursday.
Animal Care and Control workers on set traps with food in the building to lure cats into cages, and planned to return Friday with the goal of saving the remaining pets.
Heartbroken workers also removed a dead dog from the building Thursday.
It’s unclear how the cats survived the fire, but they may have fled to the first floor which remained largely unburned.
