March 30, 2008

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A fire ripped through the Jacksonville, Fla., Humane Society on April 7, 2007. When the dust had settled, nearly 100 were dead, and the building was almost completely destroyed.

But a year later, the shelter is back up and running. And with a little more time, managers say business will be back to normal and animals will once again have a safe place to call home.

The cause of the fire is still undetermined but it started near the rear of the building. In all, 80 animals survived, but 86 perished including 67 cats and 19 dogs.

"It was a very personal loss, but it wasn’t just personal to this staff,” said Leona Sheddon, JHS executive director. “It was personal to this community, and because fire is so visual we made the national news and the international news.

“And as a result of that, not only did this community embrace us, but the nation did, too."

These days, the JHS has about 50 percent of their services back up and running although the cattery and technical areas have been severely affected. But no matter how bad things are, the JHS remains committed to fostering animals and finding good homes.

"We’re excited about being back in business and we’re also excited about kicking off our capital campaign to build a brand new facility,” said Sheddon.

Long-term plans are in place to develop and build a new state of the art facility, but it will take time and money. The fire caused more than $1 million in damage.

"Since we are operating at full capacity right now, we feel very comfortable in being able to raise the money that we need and build the facility that this community deserves," said Sheddon.

It's been a long road back, but officials at the Humane Society are confident that with a little help and a lot of love, the shelter will be back to normal before too long.

Animal admissions have resumed on a limited basis, especially in the cattery area. The shelter is only accepting a limited number of felines until more are able to be housed.

"We have plenty of room right now for all the animals although we still have a waiting list for people who are trying to make appointments with us to bring their animals here," she said.

Anyone can help the cause through donations of money or goods. The Jacksonville Humane Society has set up a Web site, where users can see pictures of the fire and updates on how the volunteers have pulled together to keep animals in North Florida safe, happy, and most importantly, ready to be adopted.

Generous individuals and businesses are pitching in to help setup the facilities needed to house animals and support staff.

To find out how you can help, visit jaxhumane.org.

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Matt Van Hoven, Pet Pulse reporter, contributed to this article.