Scarlett the Cat: Five Runs Into Fire to Save Her Kittens

On March 30, 1996, a fire broke out in an abandoned garage in Brooklyn, New York. Inside were a stray cat and her five newborn kittens. What happened next made headlines around the world.

Five Trips Through the Flames

Firefighter David Giannelli was working the scene when he noticed something extraordinary. A badly burned cat was making repeated trips back into the burning structure. She was carrying her kittens out one by one. Each trip back meant more burns to her ears, paws, and coat. By the time she had carried the fifth kitten to safety, her eyes were blistered completely shut from the heat and smoke.

She Counted Them in the Dark

Unable to see, Scarlett did the only thing she could: she gently touched each kitten with her nose, one by one, to confirm all five were safe. Then she collapsed unconscious. Giannelli rushed her and the kittens to the North Shore Animal League clinic in Port Washington, New York, where they all received emergency care. Four of the five kittens survived. The fifth, a white-coated kitten, died of a virus a month after the fire - not from the burns themselves.

7,000 Letters

The story spread fast. The clinic was flooded with more than 7,000 letters from people around the world offering to adopt Scarlett and her kittens. After three months of treatment and recovery, Scarlett was adopted by Karen Wellen of Brooklyn. The kittens were adopted in pairs by families in The Hamptons and Port Washington. The North Shore Animal League later created the Scarlett Award for Animal Heroism in her honor.

Her Legacy

Scarlett lived with Karen Wellen for the rest of her life and died on October 11, 2008, at around 13 years old. The award named for her continues to recognize animals that display extraordinary courage. For many, the image of a blinded cat counting her kittens by nose before she went unconscious remains one of the most powerful acts of maternal devotion ever witnessed.