Cat ran into burning building 5 times to save her babies

As parents, we know that we would do anything to protect our children, our desire to keep them safe above our own safety and well-being.

One mother cat, named Scarlett, was in a deadly situation when she rescued her babies from a burning building.

She was living peacefully with its kittens in a garage in Brooklyn. But one night, somebody set fire to the garage. When firefighters showed up, they spotted the cat holding a kitten in her teeth.

After dragging the baby to safety, she threw herself back into the fire. In spite of her burns, the mother carried all of her kittens out of the burning room — and because the cat could only take them one at a time, she had to return to the blazing, smoke-soaked garage five times.

The New York Post wrote about the cat, and the paper received thousands of offers from kind-hearted people to help Scarlett. The kittens were quickly taken away (alas, one of them died shortly after the fire, but the others took in new families), and Scarlett herself was adopted by a woman named Karen Wellen.

After the fire, Scarlett lived in Karen Wellen’s home for 13 years, surrounded by care and custody. Although Scarlett could no longer have kittens, her heroic act made her a model of maternal care and devotion around the world. Since 1996, the Animal Welfare League established a special award, the Scarlett Award for Animal Heroism, which was given to animals that participated in the rescue of people or other animals. And Scarlett herself was recognized as the Cat of the Century.