LAKEPORT >> Columns of smoke from the Ranch Fire could be seen Monday along the northern horizon as Lake County residents made their way to the Lakeport offices of Animal Care & Control Monday afternoon. The building, adjacent to the Lake County Jail, had been evacuated for a week due to the Mendocino Complex fires and had just opened its doors to the public that morning.
Behind the offices an estimated 300 animals, including chickens, goats, horses, alpaca and a tortoise, waited for their owners to appear. Residents who have animals under the care of Animal Control or LEAP due to the fires—and this strictly excludes cases that are unrelated to the fires—were allowed in beginning Monday to either pick their animals up at the Lakeport facility, or to retrieve a key to access their animals if they are being cared for at one of the other locations that have been accommodating animals during the countywide emergency.
“The first night was a shuffle,” said Animal Control Director Bill Davidson of the difficulties of evacuating the agency’s center of operations. But the Lake County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was opened by July 30 in Kelseyville to accommodate evacuated animals, and a number of other locations volunteered to help during the crisis.
Given the breadth of evacuation orders that had been issued to Lake County in the last week, which Davidson said created “the largest number of evacuees that we’ve ever had to consider,” the destruction of homes from the massive fires has been surprisingly sparing. Davidson was thankful for this, noting how other fires, like the Valley Fire, have rolled through Lake County communities, destroying scores of houses and everything—including animals—inside them. “I’m incredibly thankful, even if an animal is scared, to know that it’s safe,” said Davidson.
In addition to the 300 animals now available for pickup at the Lakeport facility, there are more than 60 at the SPCA, more than 40 horses and other large livestock at various boarding stables, including Helen Owens A1 Horse Care in Middletown, Cole Creek Equestrian Center and Gaddy Shack Ranch in Kelseyville, the Dressage Corner in Lower Lake, and others.
According to Davidson, Lake Evacuation & Animal Protection, a group made up of Animal Control staff and experienced volunteers, has been assisted not only by these boarding houses, but by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and others. A travel trailer housed more than a dozen ASPCA members across the lot from Animal Care & Control, who had travelled from Missouri to assist Lake County animals. In addition, local vets including Drs. Takasui of Main Street Vet Clinic and the Wasson Memorial team of Lakeport, and Drs. Jeff Smith and Debra Sally of Middletown, have been “running around helping the evacuation centers with animal issues,” said Davidson. “They’ve been awesome.”
With all this help, Animal Care & Control has been successful in caring for the animals that have needed care during the fires. Now that many evacuees, especially on the western portion of Lake County, are beginning to return home, the animals will start to be reunited with their owners. “What we’re trying to do now is just maintain what we’ve got until they start lifting the [evacuation] orders.”
Lake County Animal Care & Control is located at 4949 Helbush Drive in Lakeport, and can be reached at (707) 263-0278. The facility is open this week to fire-affected animal owners only.
