San Diego Fire Animal Rescue Updates

November 6, 2007- During the firestorm disaster, the San Diego Humane Society cared for hundreds animals at evacuation centers throughout the county. Our ARR worked with the County of San Diego, Department of Animal Services to evacuate more than 500 animals that were directly in harms way due to the fire and then continued to care for over 5,000 animals that were left behind in evacuated areas.

Though the fires are contained, our work to help animals affected by the fires continues.  Our officers are continuing to provide welfare checks for animals upon request.  As residents return to their homes, we are actively assessing the animal needs of the community and will continue to provide support where it is needed.

The La Jolla Indian Reservation in Pauma Valley was one of the areas severely affected by the fires.  The 200 cattle and horses that call the reservation home had no source of food as the pastures that they usually graze on had been burned.  Thanks to the Wildhorse Foundation from Franklin, Texas, the San Diego Humane Society was able to arrange for 45,000 pounds of hay to be delivered directly to the reservation.  Susan Calhoun and Ray Fields of the Wildhorse Foundation drove out from Texas to personally make the delivery alongside the San Diego Humane Society.



Photos from the hay donation>>

Officials say being prepared is essential when dealing with natural disasters such as wild fires and earthquakes. Join us for our for our upcoming Disaster Preperation Lecture to learn how to prepare yourself for disasters. Learn More and to make a reservation>>

October 27, 2007- Today we are beginning to close down some of the evacuation sites as residents return home. Our Mira Mesa Center is schedule to be closed by the evening. 

Though not many in number, at the evacuation centers and in the field we have found a few stray/unclaimed pets.  If you are missing a pet from this disaster, please visit the County of San Diego, Department of Animal Services website or call 619-236-4250 with a full description of the pet. 

We will continue to conduct welfare checks through the weekend and provide food and water to animals whose owners are not able to get back into their homes. 

As the fires become more and more contained, our effort will shift more to focusing on what we can do to help pets and their families whose homes were destroyed.  We continue to thank everyone for their wonderful support of the pets in San Diego and their families!

October 26, 2007 - As burned areas of the county are reopened to residents, volunteers and staff continue to visit residences and perform welfare checks on animals and veterinarians are tending to animals injured from the fire.  The San Diego Humane Society has been amazed to see how well prepared residents have been in evacuating their animals.

With many residents returning to their homes, several evacuation centers have begun to close down and others that were previously full have resumed accepting evacuees. 

With information changing rapidly, several rumors are circulating through the media and the internet:

MYTH: San Diego area shelters have started euthanizing animals because of overcrowding due to animals being taken in during the fires.

This is simply untrue.  Both animals taken in due to the fires and animals in regular shelter care are not being euthanized to create “space.”  Animals separated from their owners during the fire are being held safely at local County of San Diego Department of Animal Services location where they can be reclaimed by their owners.  No animals are being “shipped” out of the county unless done so directly by their owners.

MYTH: There are evacuation centers with people and animals that are not receiving supplies and people and pets are starving.

Evacuation centers countywide are in contact with the County Department of Animal Services.  San Diego Humane Society staff is regularly delivering supplies, including hay for livestock, to sites in need.  Any site that is in need of supplies can call (619) 243-3424 to arrange supply delivery or pick-up. 

  Photos from Thurs., Oct. 25>> 

Thurs., Oct. 25, 2007, PM- A BIG thank you goes out to our supporters for their genorosity.  We have received so many wonderful items and funds in donation to support our efforts!  As donations came in today, we distributed them to sites with supply needs. As a private, unaffiliated, non-profit that receives no funding from public resources we could not continue to do this work without your support, so we thank you. This is truly an amazing community of animal lovers!

As of today, there are 165 animals directly receiving care from our staff at the Mira Mesa High School, down from 200 as people are returning to their homes.  The majority of evacuees left are from the Ramona area. A Humane Society veterinarian was also on site today to examine pets and provide healthcare to any ailing animals.

Welfare checks on animals left in their homes continued today as the areas actively buring decreased. Volunteers and staff visited almost 100 residences and fed and watered over 409 animals throughout the county in Lakeside, Ramona and Jamul.

Some animals are suffering from burns and smoke inhalation. Approximately 20 horses are being treated at the Lakeside Rodeo Ground for fire-related injuries. Unfortunately, there are also many dead animal that were found today and a total count is in the process of being tallied. Our thoughts and well wishes go out to those who have lost their animals in these terrible fires. The San Diego Humane Society does provide pet loss resources for those who have had to say goodbye to their animal friends. Learn more about pet loss support>>

Though this is a terrible tragedy, we continue to be encouraged by the surviving animals that we are finding and in our ability to continue to help the community.  

 Photos from Thurs., Oct. 25>> 

Wed., Oct. 24, 2007 - PM: Today over 40 San Diego Humane Society staff and ARR members worked in the field in conjunction with the County of San Diego, Department of Animal Services as our animal support efforts continued. Our ARR members and Humane Officers are now going into burned areas to feed and water any animals that were not able to be evacuated.  This afternoon alone in the Jamul area we were able to care for over 100 animals, mostly horses. We were truly amazed at the job that the fire fighters did in saving structures that both people and animals lived in.  Several of the sites we visited obviously had fires burning, but animals that remained were safe, though frightened. 

In the northern part of the county, which was damaged by the Witch Creek Fire, we also continued our sheltering-in place efforts. We even had one property in Ramona that had over 25,000 small animals that we helped to care for including mice, ducks, quail and chickens.

Our staff at the Mira Mesa High School shelter continued to provide resources to evacuated pets and thier families. There were almost 200 animals in the Humane Society's care and several more in vehicle with their owners. Thankfully the majority of animals have all been identified and the owners continue to check on and care for them.  Humane Society veterinarian, Dr. Babbit was also on site to exams and provide care to animals in need. By the end of the evening several people had left as evacuated areas were beginning to be re-opened.  

    Photos from Wed., Oct. 24>> 

Video of Feeding Horses (Please be patient while loading.) 


(C) 2007, San Diego Humane Society and SPCA

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AM: The San Diego Humane Society is providing up to the minute information about available animal evacuation centers and supply areas, animal rescues, and donation and supply needs on our website. Residents are encouraged to check the website throughout the day for the most current, accurate information regarding all animal evacuation issues.

Although we are not currently able to escort individuals into burned areas, San Diego Humane Society and County of San Diego Animals Services officers are attending to animals left behind in burned areas.  If you need an officer to check on an animal that was left behind, please call (619) 236-4250 and press “1.”

Various animal evacuation centers are being set up throughout the county; however, not all centers are being actively supplied by the Count of San Diego Department of Animal Services. The San Diego Humane Society urges pet owners to evacuate to Qualcomm Stadium or Fiesta Island when possible as pet supplies are being actively dispersed at these sites.

Representatives of evacuation centers in need of animal supplies can call (619) 243-3424.

Tues., Oct. 23, 2007 - The San Diego Humane Society’s Animal Rescue Reserve (ARR) team is currently working with the County of San Diego Department of Animal Services (DAS) to evacuate domestic animals and livestock threatened by the Harris and Witch Creek fires with first priority being given to evacuation areas in Rancho Bernardo.  SDHS staff is also manning the pet center at the Mira Mesa High School Evacuation Center.

Over the last two days, officers, staff and volunteers have helped in evacuating more than 400 animals and are directly assisting several thousand animals at evacuation centers throughout the county.  It is estimated conservatively that between 10,000 to 15,000 animals are in evacuation centers countywide.

Please Note: Currently we are not able to assist or escort individuals into burned areas to check on pets.  All rescue resources are devoted to areas needing immediate evacuation.

 Photos from Tuesday, Oct. 23>>  

Several Animal Rescue Reserve volunteers and Humane Society staff members were stationed with evacuated livestock, including more than 25 horses, at a staging area in Jamul, which was threatened by the Harris fire several times. With the help of local firefighters the volunteers and staff members were able to make a stand and remain with the animals until it could be deemed safe to move them.

 View Photos from Monday, Oct. 22>>

 View Photos from Sunday, Oct. 21>>