Despite the intervention of firefighters with 8 vehicles and the action of 3 water hoses, 10 boxes for animals were completely destroyed. Many of the cats died from burns or smoke poisoning.
More than 100 cats were killed in a fire overnight from Friday to Saturday in the free cats animal shelter in Béziers. Despite the intervention of firefighters with 8 vehicles and the action of 3 water hoses, 10 boxes for animals were completely destroyed. The shelter, completely destroyed, was then caring for 250 cats.
Nathalie Chatrain, the president of the association launched a call for donations on social networks. The manager of the shelter was on site Friday evening, with volunteers, to try to help injured and surviving animals. Some cats have been taken in by families, others are in a veterinary clinic, but several have escaped and are in the wild.
The police, the mayor of Villeneuve-lès-Béziers and the president of the agglomeration were present on Saturday morning to see the damage. Everyone recalls that the refuge of free cats cannot remain on this land, which is subject to flooding and classified as a Natura 2000 Zone. A court decision was handed down to this effect six months ago. For Fabrice Solans, the mayor of Villeneuve-lès-Béziers, the refuge was in “an illegal situation”. To our colleagues from Midi Libre, he explains that “this land should have been returned to nature a long time ago as part of the fight against cabanization. There are procedures in progress and nothing is moving. We shouldn’t find anything there, any more than on other grounds. The animal toll is deplorable. We found everything, pigs, dogs, cats, seagulls. It’s a Noah’s Ark. These people think they are doing good and I respect their cause which is quite laudable. But there no. I do not know what the owner of the premises will do, but it is up to the State to enforce the injunctions to bring this land back to bare.”
This same fire also ravaged more than 3500 m² of vegetation in the Hérault.