A wildfire near Adelaide, South Australia, destroyed a kennel, killing dozens of pets Saturday. Various fires have also forced thousands of evacuations and destroyed homes.
The fire burned the Tea Tree Gully Boarding Kennels & Cattery Saturday morning, the Sydney Morning Herald reported, killing about 40 pets. Paul Hicks, who runs the kennel with his wife, said they were forced to evacuate as the fire approached but couldn't take the pets with them. The kennel had been full for the holiday season, Hicks also told reporters.
In a Facebook post, the kennel announced that all of the boarded cats had been killed in the fire. Some dogs were rescued, but "a large number did perish." The kennel's owners also wrote that they were devastated by the losses.
"We have lost a home, business and pets we love and feel so awful about the loss of people's beloved pets," the note adds. There were more than 7,000 comments on the post as of Saturday night, some expressing sorrow over the lost dogs and cats.
The fire ripped through the kennel just hours after the owners had posted on Facebook that they were still safe, but that roads were closed and "conditions are very unpredictable."
