Menomonee Falls sanctuary mourns loss of 2 cats in flash floods, raising money to repair nonprofit

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Many places across southeastern Wisconsin were affected by the flash floods – homes, businesses, nonprofits, and even animal shelters. One cat sanctuary in Menomonee Falls is mourning the loss of two of their cats while trying to get up and running.

What was supposed to be a weekend getaway for Jenifer Alvarez and Tom Tarantino turned into a race to get back home.

“I have not seen anything like this first hand in my entire life,” said Tarantino.

Alvarez owns and operates Doodle's Ranch and Sanctuary in the basement of her house.

“Typically we get them from other shelters that don’t have the means to accommodate special needs cats,” said Alvarez.

Early Sunday morning, she received a call from her pet sitter.

“There’s water in the basement. And I said how bad? And she goes, ‘it’s bad,’” said Alvarez.

Nearly everything was damaged following severe rain and flash floods.

"Literally everything was floating,” said Alvarez.

Nearly four feet of water covered her entire basement – destroying everything she had built for the cats.

“The water rushed to the back, the side of her house,” said Tarantino.

Two cats Alvarez had been taking care of were unable to swim to the surface.

“This was something that was just not usual,” said Tarantino.

With nearly 30 other cats to care for, Alvarez says she hasn’t had time to slow down.

“The cats have no clue,” said Alvarez.

Just as the Menomonee River across the street continues to rise, Alvarez says she too can rise above this damage.

“Just getting everything clean,” said Alvarez.

Alvarez is raising funds to help her repair the sanctuary. A link to her GoFundMe can be found HERE.