Fires threaten San Diego County. Helen Woodward Animal Center
staff, volunteers, and the public work together for the sake of the animals.
When fires threatened San Diego County, Helen Woodward Animal Center worked to help people and animals in trouble. “We received a call on Sunday morning, October 26 telling us to prepare to evacuate if necessary” recalls HWAC spokesman John Van Zante. “They would give us as much notice as possible, but we would probably have an hour to evacuate more than 200 dogs, cats, bunnies, guinea pigs, turtles, etc. Our staff began preparing crates, loading vehicles, and developing transportation plans.”
Helen Woodward Animal Center soon became an information source for the news media, providing TV viewers and radio listeners with information about how to transport their pets, what to take along, and where to go with their pets if they were forced to evacuate.
“We had lots of calls from people asking if they could bring their animals here to the Center. We didn’t turn anyone away, but when we told them that we were under evacuation alert they asked for other options.”
Adoption officials say that the orphaned dogs and cats knew there was something wrong. The skies were dark and there was a smell of smoke in the air. Their natural instinct tells them to find a safe place. Staff members tried to maintain some normalcy for the frightened pets. They got their walks and play time. But nature was telling them that things just weren’t right.
As the sun set HWAC and its neighbors in Rancho Santa Fe and Fairbanks Ranch remained under a threat of evacuation. With Center vans lined up in the back parking lot alongside staff members pickups, vans and SUV’s.
On Sunday evening about 15 staff members spent the night at Helen Woodward Animal Center sleeping on office floors, in chairs, or watching television reports tracking the progress of the fires. Visits to the kennels and stables helped to keep the animals quiet, even though they all seemed aware of the pending danger.
The night passed and morning light gave way to an eerie, orange sunrise filled with clouds of dark smoke. Even though the threat of evacuation continued, staff members and volunteers began arriving for their regular shifts to feed and walk the animals, clean cages, and provide information about animal care during the crisis.
By Monday night the threat had lessened, but staff members were told to be ready in case evacuation was necessary. Several staffers spent the night at a hotel near the Center. Others went home for the night, knowing that they might need to spring out of bed and drive to the Center at a moment’s notice.
By midday Tuesday the evacuation alert was lifted. The immediate danger had passed, but the air quality had declined. At one point the air was filled with ashes that actually burned the skin of a staff member. Plans were implemented to move as many animals as possible indoors. Cages, portable kennels, and travel crates lined the rear entryway of the Center’s Administration building. Eventually every adoptable animal was “tucked in” with food, water, a warm blanket and a toy.
Border Patrol agents brought he first fire victims to Helen Woodward Animal Center’s Equine Hospital. A trailer carrying two badly burned horses (a palomino and a paint) arrived Sunday evening. Agents had no idea who the horses belonged to, only that they needed immediate medical attention. The palomino had tucked its burning tail between its legs and run from the fire, causing severe damage. Veterinarians and staff members went to work treating the burns. Both horses were later claimed by a family that initially thought they had lost their home, their daughter, and their horses to the fires. It ended up that the fire had missed their home, but had not spared the horses.
The second trailer was towed by a private citizen who found a stray donkey and a badly burned horse in the Wildcat Canyon area. They donkey (now called “Burrito” by the hospital staff) was in pain, but treatable. The horse was burned too badly for treatment with its hooves separating from its feet. It was euthanized shortly after arrival.
While the burn victims were taking high priority, one horse arrived with what appeared to be colic. As doctors prepared for surgery and staff members prepared the operating room, they began to see changes in the horse. The surgery was called off and the horse returned to its stall for observation. Veterinarians later determined that they had made the right decision. The colic symptoms were a result of the horse’s fire-related stress.
The next horse to arrive had, by far, sustained the worst burns. Shortly after being unloaded from the trailer it died of burn injuries.
The next trailer carried a small female burro. Like the horse, her injuries were severe. Doctors began treatment and the burro was placed in the hospital’s Intensive Care stall. During the next few days the donkey’s condition failed to stabilize. The owner who came to claim “Molly” said he didn’t want her back but would relinquish her to the Center for further treatment. Unfortunately Molly lost her battle on Monday, November 3.
The arrival of a large buckskin and a small pony from the Del Mar Fairgrounds gave the staff a bit of relief. Both of these horses required care for their burn injuries, but the bond between them touched the hearts of everyone they met. Even in their pain, they walked to the edge of the stall to greet anyone who came near. The prognosis for full recovery is good, but both horses remained unclaimed by Tuesday, November 4.
As a result of the fires Helen Woodward Animal Center became an animal supply distribution point. Following the Center’s 13th annual Walk for Animals on Saturday, October 25, there were some left over samples of Iams dog and cat food. When the Iams Company learned of the needs of the displaced animals, their delivery trucks arrived at the Center with 10 more pallets of food for distribution to evacuation centers, animal shelters, and rescue organizations. The first delivery went to the El Cajon Department of Animal Control, which was caring for hundreds of pets displaced by the fires.
When the evacuation alert first occurred, Don Cowan, Director of Marketing and Communications for PETCO, called Helen Woodward Animal Center to say they had two trucks full of supplies loaded at their warehouse and ready to go. All they needed were the drop off locations. Van Zante recalls, “When we told him about our immediate evacuation needs here at the Center they opened the doors of their Del Mar PETCO and helped us load the supplies into our vans. No charge. It was all donated to help save the lives of the animals.” Cowan had also removed the seats from his family van. “He told us to call him if we had to evacuate…and he meant it.”
One of the more far reaching offers for help came from the Station Casino group in Las Vegas. “When Gina Latiffe, Director of Public Relations, heard about our needs the Station Casinos began collecting supplies and donations. They delivered two full truckloads of blankets, crates, and food they had collected. We can’t thank them enough.”
Kern County firefighter Eric Darling called on Monday, November 3 saying that more supplies were on the way. While Eric is not on the fire line this time around, he’s fought fires like this for the last 3 years. This time he and his wife organized a collection effort for horse supplies. He drove through the rain to deliver the first truck load of supplies, then apologized that he hadn’t been able to bring the trailer load that was still at his home. Darling has seen the devastation of fires like these, first-hand. He was happy to organize the effort to help those who have lost everything.
At 3:00 PM on Monday, November 3 a horse trailer carrying “Yankee” arrived at the hospital. His may be the most touching story of all. He’s a 32-year-old horse that sustained burn injuries, compounded by colic symptoms.
Shortly after his arrival his owner stood on the lawn outside the hospital with her arms around him, crying openly. He was all she and her husband had left. They had lost their home and all other worldly possessions to the blaze.
His old face showed signs of badly burned skin that had begun to fall off. The blanket on his back kept the temperature of his old body stabilized. The I.V. bag hanging above his stall helped to replenish fluids lost to the fire. Every few hours the hospital staff gently applies salve on his wounds to help fight infections that could so easily invade his body.
One hospital staff member who knows Yankee’s owners says that they have had him for more than 20 years. He’s like their baby. And now he’s all they have left. She says, “I’m praying for him to recover. He has to make it…for them.”
Helen Woodward Animal Center will continue to serve as a distribution point for supplies as long as necessary. Van Zante says, “During times like these there are so many scam artists trying to take advantage of people. Helen Woodward Animal Center has been part of this community since 1972. People know that they can trust us to make sure their donations of supplies or money are used they way they intend them to be used.”
Van Zante says that supplies and donations can be dropped off at Helen Woodward Animal Center at 6461 El Apajo Road in Rancho Santa Fe. Donations can be made online at www.animalcenter.org. For more information call the Center at 858-756-4117.
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