Eyewitness News reported Kemberly Richardson is live in Woodhaven with the story.
The family-run business had been there for 50 years. The family was at the scene of the fire early this morning but they went home to get some rest. They're trying to just cope with what happened.
The name of the shop is "Bob's Tropical Pet Center" located on 91st Jamaica Avenue. A variety of pets were kept inside, almost all of them in cages.
Just before 1:00 this morning a fire went through the pet store killing at least 12 animals and severely injuring many others.
One hundred and thirty firefighters fought the blaze as the homeowners hopelessly watched. But many neighbor who have come to the store for years tried desperately to help the injured animals.
Susan Gentile, Pet Store Owner: "It's devastating but we'll get it together again. We'll get it together."
Lenore Telesca, Helped Rescue Cats: "The kittens had smoke inhalation, they have burns on their pads, on several parts of her body. They were a little bit dehydrated, so we gave them some fluid therapy and some antibiotics to bring their body temperatures up and stuff. Right now they're in stable condition."
About 200 animals were inside the shop at the time of the fire: Dogs, cats, dozens of birds. The birds did not make it out.
Twelve firefighters had to be treated for smoke inhalation and for heat exhaustion.
There's also a neighboring restaurant next to the pet center that sustained heavy damage as well.
Copyright 2006 WABC-TV.
Republished with permission of WABC-TV.
