Cinematographer Douglas Thron captured absolutely remarkable footage documenting animal advocate Shannon Jay as he rescued a terrified, burned and starving cat from underneath an abandoned car amongst the rubble of the horrific Camp Fire in Paradise, California.
The understandably reticent cat howled loudly as Jay put her into the safety of a carrier. This little “fire monkey” (as Jay calls these cats) was taken to the vet and happily reunited with her family. Jay, who lives in Sonoma County, “self-deployed” his volunteer services up north to Butte County and is raising money through GoFundMe in order to help as many cats as he can for however long it takes.
There are thousands of missing, displaced and burned animals(most of them cats). I am requesting some help to purchase equipment(trail cams, batteries ), food for my bait stations, veterinary donations, supplies and fuel for the trips back and forth. Anything helps. This is a long haul effort and I’ll be traveling to Butte County as often as twice a week(about 400 miles round trip)to rescue fire cats and to train volunteers and families on how to find their missing fire pets. This is about the animals and their families. Bringing a lost pet back to these folks who’ve lost everything brings them back from the darkness and gives them hope. I witnessed this over and again when I reunited many fire cats with their families. I do not do this for a living bit out of love and compassion.