'I just want them back': Woman desperate to find cats missing since fire

UPDATE:Late Wednesday night Chantal Wade's cat Charlie was rescued from the building after it was caught on one of the cameras, said Jackie Gauthier.

A resident of an apartment buildingin Ottawa's Overbrook neighbourhood that was gutted by a fire last week is desperately trying to find two cats missing since thefire.

Chantal Wade had five cats and several other pets before the Feb. 21 blaze. She's been reunited with one feline, but two others perished in the firealong with her five leopard geckos and two snakes.

Wade, who wasn't home at the time of the fire, said firefighters had other priorities.

"They don't look for animals unless you're in the unit, so because I wasn't in the unitthey didn't clear for animals and I couldn't get them out," she said.

Once the flames were out, rescuers did locate Wade's grey tabbyWolf alive and mostly well in a closet.

"I was worried they weren't going to hear him, that they were going to give up," she said, adding Wolf has since been to the vet and has received the care he needed.

Two of Wade's other four cats Ashabelle, Moo, Charlie and Tag were found dead, but due to the condition of their remains it's not totally clear which cats they were. She believes Tag and one of the others may have escaped the fire, and she's offering a $500 reward for each.

Nobody died or was seriously injured in the fire.

Tracker helping the hunt

Wade has put up posters in the neighbourhood asking anyone who's spotted her cats to get in touch.

She's also working with Jackie Gauthier, an animal tracker who goes by Jackie to the Rescue, to find her missing pets.

Gauthierhad firefighters leave baited traps rigged with motion-activated cameras inside the building in an attempt to corral the missing cats.

"We had to have the help of the firemen so that they could go up there," said Gauthier, who's volunteering her services.

"We're down here trying to coach the firemen up there on where to put the traps, where to put the food andthe camera, and that's kind of difficult."

A spokesperson for Ottawa Fire Services said firefighters makeevery effort to rescue pets from dangerous situations, but sometimes can't save them all.

Ottawa Bylaw Services said the building on Presland Road has been deemed too dangerous for its officers to enter, but confirmed one dog and one cat had been rescued from the building.

Bylaw officers returned to the scene on Monday andsaid no animals were rescued then.

Gauthier believes her cameras captured a fleetingimage of one of Wade's cats, but so far the missing animalsremain at large.

"I just want them back," Wade said."Everyone says,'Oh you should be grateful you have one,' but I want my other cats back."