MEXIA, Texas — Eleven dogs were killed in a fire at the LARAS Animal Shelter in Mexia, Texas on Saturday night.
The non-profit took to Facebook to share the sad news. A new mom dog, Petunia, and nine of her puppies were killed as well as a blue heeler pup named Ace.
John Liscano, the president of LARAS, says the fire department hasn't made a final decision on what caused the fire, but their two suspicions are a golf cart that was plugged into a wall socket that may have shorted or a heat lamp that could have fallen over due to wind.
One resident has set up a GoFundMe and Liscano says the organization is thankful for whatever can be raised.
"Sometimes things happen for a reason and I hate that it happened but I'm hoping that this will bring the community back, showing a lot more support to the shelter," he said. "Without them, we can’t operate.”
LARAS is the only non-kill animal shelter in the area, according to Liscano.
“We pride ourselves on trying to find these animals homes, they may stay with us longer than most places but eventually we find them homes.”
The goal on the GoFundMe is $10,000 and as of 6:30 pm on Sunday night, the page had already reached half that goal.