The Cape Cod Animal Hospital burns down

Ron Schloerb/Cape Cod Times

Last night, there was a gas explosion at the Cape Cod Animal Hospital which is only a few miles away. Before it became an inferno, I used to work there as a vet assistant and in the boarding kennel feeding the doggies, grooming them, and slipping their meds into little treats, so this awful news story was especially sad to see.

Each morning I'd pull up on my bike and the sound of the stones crunching in the driveway under my tires would send the dogs into a barking frenzy. Not that they were excited to see me, per se. It was the fact that crunching stones + her = breakfast! You've never heard anything quite as cacophonous as thirty dogs barking at once in a concrete echo chamber known as a kennel. It was almost as painfully loud as standing in front of a Marshall Stack at a rock show must be.

Thankfully, the hospital's owner Dr. Scott Munson lives on the property. The Cape Cod Times reports,

He and a neighbor Ken Lacasse ran to the building and around to the back, where they used a cinder block to break down the door. Once inside the very smoky building, they rushed to open the cages with about a dozen dogs inside.

"All of the animals were very afraid," he said. "You're just in automatic mode, just trying to get the animals out. ... Just get them out, even if they run away."

Amazingly, only two cats perished, and one doggie is still on the loose. Hopefully they'll find him before he becomes coyote food. The story has spread to news services nationwide, but there's a slide show of nineteen photos here at the Cape Cod Times. It's eerie seeing all those cages empty. I used to love working here.

Ron Schloerb/Cape Cod Times

I hope Dr. Munson can rebuild soon.

If you want to donate money to the hospital, a fund has been set up at Bank North in the name of Cape Cod Animal Hospital Fire Fund. Their number is (508) 428-5700.

Ron Schloerb/Cape Cod Times