Animal rescuer turns grief into giving, helping another homeowner who lost dogs in fire
CARVER COUNTY, Minn. -- A week ago, Cassidy Vanderlinde woke up at 6 a.m. to find her Carver County barn on fire.
The barn housed more than 400 birds and two pigs. She lost most of the animals living in that barn. The charred rubble still sits on her property.
"Just basically seeing a mass grave is pretty awful," Cassidy said.
As an animal rescuer, Cassidy's way of grieving is giving.
"She doesn't know me. She drove an hour to Minneapolis," said Laura Thompson, who lived in north Minneapolis until her home caught fire back in February, killing eight dogs inside.
Cassidy came across Laura's plea online to help her find the remains of her dog Blackie, the only one they weren't able to recover. For Laura, it was too painful to go back to her burned home and search.
"It just felt incomplete, you know, because [our dogs] were our family," Laura said.
Cassidy spent hours searching for Blackie's remains on Tuesday, eventually finding them buried deep in the rubble.
"I honestly started crying when I first found him, because I knew how much it meant to her," Cassidy said.
"I cannot express my gratitude for this," Laura said.
Cassidy gave the profession "animal rescuer" a whole new meaning.
"It almost makes me feel better, in a way, that I can't recover what we lost, but I can help her recover something that she lost," Cassidy said.
From strangers to friends, Laura and Cassidy are able to share gratitude for what they still have.
Laura still has two dogs who survived the fire, and Cassidy has three ducklings, three chickens and one of her pigs.
"I feel like if I can help somebody, I will," Cassidy said.
Cassidy owns Abandoned Pets Ranch Animal Rescue in Arlington. You can help her recover from her loss, so she can continue to serve animals, at the donation tab on her website.
