115 Dogs Rescued From Doggy Day Care Fire After Strangers’ Quick Thinking

Though no pets or people were injured in the inferno, The Dog Resort Lake City did sustain approx $300k in damages and has temporarily closed.

Gina Estrada via the Washington Post
Gina Estrada via the Washington Post

When a fire broke out at The Dog Resort Lake City on February 1, a group of strangers sprang into action to help the Seattle doggy day care facility. As a result, all 115 pooches at the center were saved, in addition to all human staffers.

When the fire broke out, employees from the doggy day care center began putting the dogs outside the building. That’s when Kenny Robinson and several other employees at neighboring business PSR Mechanical rushed over to help, pulling dogs away from the fire and thick smoke.

Within minutes, Robinson and his peers had gathered more than 40 dogs into a safely confined area. Other businesses in the surrounding neighborhood took other dogs into their spaces as firefighters worked to tame the fire.

“It was really chaotic and traumatic — firefighters arrived and some of the dogs were struggling from the smoke and needed oxygen,” Robinson said in an interview with the Washington Post. “Another dog got away from me and I had to chase him down. But we got them all out.”

“People really stepped up — this was a community effort to save these dogs,” said David Cuerpo, spokesperson for the Seattle Fire Department. “It’s incredible that everybody jumped into action.”

Though no pets or people were injured in the inferno, The Dog Resort Lake City did sustain approx $300k in damages and has temporarily closed. The company has launched a GoFundMe campaign, as it is ‘now facing many financial burdens in the interim.’