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Gretchen Wenner

Janell Matthies, emergency services manager for United Animal Nations, at the Santa Barbara Human Society with a fond Basset hound.


Animal Evacuees Start Heading Home

More Than 500 Pets Found Haven at Shelter


Saturday, May 9, 2009
By Gretchen Wenner
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Animals, too, have their angels.

Judy, an 83-pound tortoise, was among the more unusual guests at the Santa Barbara Humane Society on Saturday, May 9. But she had plenty of company. An emu, chickens, chinchillas, songbirds, and horses — along with hundreds of dogs and cats — crowded an emergency center, set up at the center’s Overpass Road shelter, for pets displaced by the Jesusita Fire.

Humane Society staffers have been sleeping on the shelter grounds since the fire broke out Tuesday, May 5, said Peggy Langle, executive director. All areas, from vet cages to visiting rooms, have been turned over to disaster care. By late Thursday night, with the waiting room overflowing and more folks crowding the parking lot, the Overpass Road shelter needed help.

Judy the 83-pound tortoise, waiting out the fire.
Click to enlarge photo

Gretchen Wenner

Judy the 83-pound tortoise, waiting out the fire.

Not long before midnight, Langle called PetSmart Charities Inc., a nonprofit arm of the pet-store retail chain, which runs an emergency relief program. By 1:30 a.m. Friday, the Humane Society had been approved for a grant. A semi with hundreds of crates was headed her way.

And from Sacramento, nonprofit United Animal Nations (UAN) had dispatched an emergency operations manager to set up the disaster unit. “We couldn’t have done it without them,” Langle said.

The semi arrived before dawn, and five women unloaded contents in assembly-line fashion.

UAN’s Janell Matthies oversaw an effort that transformed a 3,000-square-foot storage building into the expanded shelter. Volunteer crews removed building contents, sterilized the site, and set up one room for dogs, another for cats. Red-shirted volunteers, through UAN’s Emergency Animal Rescue Service program, or EARS, spent one-on-one time with dogs and cats to help keep animals’ stress levels down.

Owners, too, felt calmer knowing their furred and feathered friends were safe.

A evacuated cat at the Santa Barbara Humane Society shelter during the Jesusita Fire.
Click to enlarge photo

Gretchen Wenner

A evacuated cat at the Santa Barbara Humane Society shelter during the Jesusita Fire.

“It takes a huge burden off of them,” Matthies said.

Humane Society staff estimated they housed more than 500 pets during the fire. On Saturday, when mandatory evacuation orders eased, some headed home. Barbara Barker and Scott Turnbull, who live in the San Roque area, picked up their three Pembroke Welsh Corgis in the afternoon: Scooter, Cleme and Louie Loo.

“This is a great service,” Barker said. Plus, it was free. “We will, of course, donate,” added Turnbull.

Humane Society staffers Tim Collins and Guy Hernandez rescued 34 horses, two burros, an alpaca, and four goats during the blaze. Most of these large animals stayed at Earl Warren Showgrounds, which also serves as the staging area for the firefighters.

Neither the people nor the animals have had much sleep since the fire broke out.

“It’s my longest Tuesday ever,” Hernandez joked.

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Comments

Discussion Guidelines

ASAP, your community nonprofit, no-kill cat shelter for over 20 years is housing about 200 cats from the fire evacuation and 80 lost or stray cats. To help with the care of the cats ASAP could use donations of the following:

Cash gifts
Wellness cat Food
NutroMax dry cat food in Chicken Flavor
Hills foods (especially regular adult WD, CD or DD)
KMR (kitten milk replacement)
headlamps (for emergency kit)
Pine litter
Laundry Soap
Stamps
Heating pads that don't shut off
large bottles of Purell
2 computers or laptops less than 5 years old with monitors
cash gifts

ASAP is located at the Santa Barbara County Animal Shelter
5473 Overpass Road
Santa Barbara, CA 93111
(beyond the Humane Society)

www.asapcats.org

catsinsb (anonymous profile)
May 9, 2009 at 8:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Please consider contributing to the Humane Society on Overpass Road. They were extraordinarily generous in caring for the pets of evacuees. My rabbit spent several days at B.U.N.S., free of charge. I made a donation to the shelter and hope others will do the same.

sbnative08 (anonymous profile)
May 11, 2009 at 11:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)

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Independent Interactive:

  • Jesusita Fire - Evacuation Area Map
  • Sign-up for IndyAlert for Jesusita Fire Updates
  • Send us your Tips, News, or Photos & Video

Public Resources

  • The Jesusita Fire Call Center
    (805) 681-5197
  • County of Santa Barbara
  • City of Santa Barbara
  • Santa Barbara County Fire Department

    Phone Numbers:
  • Public Information Hotline
    (805) 681-5197
  • Reverse 911 sign-up (If you don't already have a house phone, and want to add your wireless device to be contacted for emergencies)
    (805) 681-4100 or http://www.sbsheriff.org/reverse911.html
  • Forest Service Tip Line
    (805) 961-5710
  • Animal Shelter Hotline
    (805) 681-4332

    Websites:
  • SB County Fire Department
  • Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District
  • Smoke Information from County Health
  • Wildfire Smoke Impact
  • Prepare Your Family Disaster Plan

    Radio Stations:
  • AM Stations: KTMS-990; KZSB-1290; San Marcos Pass Radio-1040; KUHL-1410 and KINF-1440;
  • FM Stations: KCSB-91.9; KTYD-99.9; KSYV-96.7; KSBL-101.7; KRAZ-105.9;
  • (Spanish); KSPE-94.5 and KIST-107.7;

    TV:
  • Santa Barbara County's Channel 20
  • City of Santa Barbara, Channel 18
  • City of Goleta at Channel 19

    Additional Info:
  • In the event of a possible evacuation due to the Jesusita Fire the Public Health Department wants to identify individuals with special needs who may be unable to evacuate without help and those who need medical equipment that require electricity. please call (805) 968-0462 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
  • The Red Cross Evacuation center is Dos Pueblos High School at 7266 Alameda Avenue in Goleta, CA.
  • The cause of Jesusita Fire is currently under investigation. If you have information about the fire, please call the anonymous tip hotline 805-686-5074.

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