In 1996, a mother cat gave birth to a litter of five kittens in an abandoned Brooklyn building. (That's Brooklyn, New York, not Brooklyn, Indiana, which is just a few miles south of my hometown, Mooresville.) While out foraging, Mama returned to find the building engulfed in flames. As firefighters battled the blaze, Mama entered the smoke-filled, burning structure and retrieved her kittens and carried them to safety. She was severely burned and injured but survived, as did her entire family (although one kitten later succumbed to an illness).
Called Scarlett by workers as the North Shore Animal League, she was adopted by Karen Wellen, and two other families adopted her surviving kittens, as this video below explains.
"Scarlett the Cat" (2013) by Khai Darulnaim
Several books were published about Scarlett and her heroism, including Hero Cat (2006), a children's picture book written by Eileen Spinelli and illustrated by Jo Ellen McAllister Stammen. Our book trailer gives a brief summary.
MPL Book Trailer #462
Hero Cat, by Eileen Spinelli
(illustrated by Jo Elen McAllister Stammen)
Scarlett passed in 2008 from natural causes. She represented the finest feline qualities, demonstrating that the power of motherly love can overcome any obstacle. I never had the privilege of meeting her or her kittens, but her example shines as a reminder that there is a hero kitty inside us all, to be called upon in our times of crisis.
Your Roving Reporter On The Go,
Cauli Le Chat
