When animal control officer Jose E. Aranda showed up to the Laredo Animal Care Services around 10:00pm on January 8, he expected to process some animals, feed some dogs, and carry on with his night.
However, his plans quickly changed when he noticed smoke pouring from the nearby cat shelter.
Recognizing the smoke meant a fire, Jose quickly rushed over and began freeing the cat from their cages and pulling them to safety. In total, he saved 45 cats before the fire department arrived.
In an interview with the Laredo Morning Times, Aranda said, “I proceeded to open the door and saw a bunch of cats there, so I started releasing the cats before they got burned.”
Because of how much smoke Jose inhaled while saving the cats, he had to be transported to a hospital for oxygen and monitoring.
“I love my job. I think that if I was another person, I probably wouldn’t have gone in to save these animals. I could’ve easily waited outside until they [fire department] came, and God would have known what could have happened to those cats,” he told the news outlet.
According to KGNS, authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire, but they were happy to report that all of the animals made it out alive. We suspect Jose’s heroic efforts played a huge role in that!