Rocco and others need foster homes. City Kitties has put a call out for folks who want to provide a foster home (or a permanent home of course) for cats displaced by fire at the Windermere Court Apartments and, more recently, the fire at 45th and Walnut. Because of the notoriety they have gained during the fires, City Kitties is experiencing a surge in the number of adoptable cats. They desperately need places for them to stay, at least temporarily. Even Rocco, who made it out earlier this week, needs a temporary home.

City Kitties has a list of criteria that would make a good foster home as well as applications here.

These two are missing after the fire on Thursday at 45th and Walnut:

“…a relative of mine was living in one of the apartments that was destroyed by the fire at 45th and Walnut. She is alright, but her two cats are lost. She wasn’t in the building when the fire was happening, so she didn’t manage to get the cats out, but she is still hoping that they escaped somehow. They are gray cats Lily and Fog and- Lily is a long-haired female and Fog is a shorthair male. If people could keep their eyes out for them, their owner and I would greatly appreciate it.” 

The West Philly-based feline rescue group City Kitties announced this morning that it will stop attempting to rescue cats that may still be inside the Windermere Court building because it is becoming more structurally unstable.

The group wrote on its Facebook page this morning:

Our trapping efforts inside the Windermere are over. The building is deteriorating, & we had to weigh the safety of the humans involved against the possibility of finding more cats. None of the 5 traps had any food eaten out of them or paw prints inside. We feel confident that no cats remain inside. Doors & some windows are open; cats DO have an opportunity to escape.

City Kitties has a page that lists the cats, including photos, that are still missing at the Windermere.

Windermere Court residents lined up into the night last night to try to get some of their stuff back. Most of them didn’t get much.

Residents were asked to make a list of things they wanted from their apartments. In some cases they drew maps of where things like documents were. The catch was that all of the stuff had to fit into two large garbage bags. The building’s management assigned a handful of demolition workers to search the nearly 100 apartments for items. Residents were escorted a couple at a time through a locked fence into the building courtyard to retrieve what the crews could find.

As we reported yesterday, residents have filed a class action lawsuit against the buildings owners and management.

The demolition of the Windermere is scheduled to begin today.

We wanted to share some video we shot late yesterday of people’s stories of getting their belongings back and the fairly humiliating process they had to go through. Here it is:

A barbed wire fence now encircles the Windermere Court building. Photo by Julija Kulneva

A rally is planned from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday outside the Windermere Court Apartments at 48th and Walnut to gather support for former residents, who still don’t have access to their belongings and pets more than a month after the fire.

Residents say they are staging the rally to make people aware of the lack of information and cooperation from the building’s owners.

The building had been deemed unsafe to enter, but residents have reportedly been told by the city that permission has been granted to the owner to allow people in. It’s the miscommunication that has former residents angry.

“It’s so frustrating,” said former resident Lara Figueroa. “Everything we find out, we find out a week after the fact.”

Residents have been told that the building will likely be at least partially demolished. The building’s owners were not available for comment.

Residents have also organized their own security of the building day and night to watch for potential looters and pets still stranded inside. The building is now surrounded by a barbed wire fence and has been padlocked.

“My biggest frustration is that we know that there are still pets in there alive,” said Figueroa. She said pets have been spotted in windows in the building, but no one has been allowed inside to rescue them.

West Philly-based feline rescue group City Kitties is joining the protest as well to help with recovering residents’ stranded pets.

City Kitties organizers write:

Despite obvious signs of life inside, no one took action–not the owners, not L&I, not the fire marshal, not the insurance investigators who all had access to the building. Just two days after this disaster, fire fighters said there was nothing more they could do and no possibility that cats could have survived.

Now the Windermere owners claim that the buildings’ exterior doors are sealed and that L&I [The city office of Licenses and Inspection] won’t allow anyone inside ever again–and yet a maintenance man, security guards, and insurance company investigators have accessed the building as recently as today, Wednesday February 9th. Meanwhile, the owners are moving forward with demolition, knowing full well that there are still pets inside!

Neighborhood resident Katie Bonier has temporary custody of a spayed female shepherd mix named Missy. She relays the story below:

I found her wandering around Chester and 46th on Saturday, she had a  tag with her name and address. Through interviewing neighbors and a web search I found that a young woman named Vanessa has owned her since birth, had two dogs, fell on hard times and had to move away 3 weeks ago, to an apartment where dogs aren’t allowed. She left Missy with her parents on 50th and  Kingsessing a few weeks ago asking them to find someone to adopt her. The parents kept her in the yard, and she escaped. I talked to Vanessa, and she needs help finding a home for Missy.

I’ve got an elderly 100 lb dog. I  don’t want a second dog as Lula goes into old age. Lula has been tolerant because Missy is polite and submissive, but she clearly doesn’t want another dog in the house. Missy weighs about 40 lbs, spayed female shepherd mix. Seems well-trained, not familiar with dog cookies or human food, sits, comes, behaves well  with other dogs. Seems trusting and even-tempered, and like maybe she’s used to being left places. She seems quite happy with everyone she meets.

Thanks!

Katie

Here is Katie’s e-mail address:

catherinebonier – at – gmail.com