Police Officers Put Their Lives At Risk To Rescue Pets From House Fire

The word of God says that the righteous ones are kind and loving to animals and look after them but the unrighteous have no regard for animals. Proverbs 12:10 “Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.”

When a house fire broke out at a house in Central Islip, New York, Friday around 3 p.m, it took the two boys who lived there by surprise and they were able to exit the home just in time.

The police said that the boys’ mother had run out for a quick, local errand and “was only gone for a short time.” Officers Sergio Rivera and James Galanos responded to a call about the fire and arrived to see the 11- and 13-year-old brothers exiting the house.

But the pets JJ and Tiger were stuck somewhere inside. JJ, a 2-year-old Chihuahua, and Tiger, a 2-year-old cat, were hiding in the house and put themselves and their rescuers in danger. The Suffolk County Police Department posted about the incident the next day, praising the officers’ efforts to retrieve the two furry family members.

“It was a lucky day for a Chihuahua named JJ and his feline friend Tiger when two Suffolk County police officers rescued them from a burning house yesterday,” the police department shared. “The officers made entry through the back of the house and saw Tiger, a 2-year-old male cat run toward the basement.

“Due to the smoke, the officers could not initially locate the dog but fortunately heard JJ whimpering near a couch. They found him inside a crate near the fire.” Rivera picked up the crate with the terrified pup, and Galanos found the terrified cat in the basement and was able to rescue him, too.

“Thank you to Officers Rivera and Galanos for rescuing this family’s furbabies!” the post concluded. “They were so thankful toward James, that he went the extra mile to find Tiger,” Rivera said. “It’s what I joined for. This is what I wanted to do, be helpful, make someone’s day,” he said, adding that he’s “thankful that I belong to a Suffolk County family that is here to help everybody.”

The police department said that the animals and the boys were safe and confirmed that no firefighters or police officers were injured, either. The cause of the fire has not been revealed, but detectives investigated the scene.