Furry Friends say needs still great at Camp Fire pet shelter in Chico

Jan. 04--Erin Piña didn't plan to spend the last three holidays helping pets displaced by the Butte County Camp Fire, but when she stumbled upon the Chico fairgrounds shelter a month ago she knew she couldn't leave.

The founder of East Contra Costa's Furry Friends Pet Relief was assisting local nonprofit Hold Your Horses Livestock Emergency Evacuation Response Team feed animals behind the fire lines when a temporary Chico pet shelter's call for help in late November changed her direction.

"I stumbled onto the shelter that needed help as they were consolidating shelters into one and I was helping transfer supplies," said Piña, an Oakley resident and part-time veterinary technician, said.

The call came from a volunteer who had been helping with the animals and suddenly found himself tasked with managing the shelter, she said. "He knew nothing about animals or shelter medicine, he needed a lot of help," she said.

By Christmas Eve, Furry Friends took over management of the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds pet shelter and with the help of a San Francisco veterinarian it set up a workable "co-location" shelter for pets and their owners. They quickly assessed the animals and determined which required quarantine because of upper respiratory infections and formed a team of volunteers, including several from East Contra Costa County, to clean cages and feed, exercise and care for the animals.

"We were working 24/7 in the pouring rain and mud; it was pretty horrific," said Dr. Lauren Knobel, co-owner of San Francisco's Seven Hills Veterinary Hospital and an Oakland Grand Lake Veterinary Hospital consultant.

Knobel herself was on sabbatical at the beginning of a year-long sailing trip, but when she got a second email in early December from the California Veterinary Medical Reserve Corps, she returned. The group, which mobilizes veterinarian volunteers, needed help with shelter management for the Camp Fire's displaced pets.

Once at Silver Dollar in mid-December, Knobel met Piña and realized they faced many issues at the shelter where, about 200 people still were living, some in RVs, cars and barracks, along with about a hundred animals.

"These animals needed help in a big way," Knobel said. "They needed proper medical care, proper sanitation, regular feeding and exercise routines."

Piña said one of the first steps was to establish proper shelter protocol to prevent further spread of diseases and build a quarantine area, where eight dogs still are recovering from upper respiratory illness.

The Red Cross helped provide supplies to build the quarantine area, and also brought hay and Astroturf so volunteers and the animals did not have to slog in the mud when they went out for walks or to the exercise pens, Knobel said.

"It wasn't something we set out to do," Piña said. "But there wasn't basic shelter protocol .... There were some animals that were very sick."

Piña credited Knobel with helping set up shelter protocols, which also included separating for health purposes the animals at the Red Cross shelter living with their owners in RVs and trailers from the ones inside the temporary pet shelter.

"She's a sounding board and she was very pivotal in getting things on the right track," Piña said.

The animals were owned by displaced fire victims who had nowhere to go, she said, and while some cared for their pets in trailers, those without homes had given the shelter permission to treat and care for them at the temporary Red Cross shelter.

One woman was heartbroken she couldn't be with her dog and was going to take her to sleep in her car, but shelter volunteers talked her out of it, Knobel said.

"She sacrificed her needs for the dog's," Knobel said. "She knew the dog was being taken well cared for."

Piña said the pet owners were appreciative.

"It helps them not having to worry about their pets every day," she said. "Sometimes they have to go out and talk to insurance adjuster, check out a house -- whatever -- it helps (ease their minds) knowing we are here to care for the animals."

Knobel said her biggest goal was to create a "co-location" shelter for people and their pets.

"I hope the best thing that comes out of this is having animals stay with their owners to improve their healing," Knobel said. "There is a pet shelter wherever there is a human shelter."

Volunteers are now beginning to prepare the pets to leave the shelter -- either with their owners to new homes or to foster care while their owners seek housing. A mobile clinic will also offer spaying and neutering, Knobel said.

"The structure is set up and everything is working great," she said. "The focus now is on making sure everyone is properly vaccinated."

Piña is reaching out for help to get the displaced people and animals transitioned.

"The saddest thing is it's been such a long time -- the animals are still getting stressed out in their kennels," she said. "Two to three months in a kennel situation is difficult even if they don't have major medical issues."

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Although the group has received donations of blankets, towels, toys, collars, food and pet potty pads, it still has to buy medicine, Piña said, noting one recent prescription cost $300. So monetary donations are appreciated, she added.

"Anything they need for their pets we provide -- flea treatments, medicine, toys, leashes, collars, treats," she said.

"The fires aren't prevalent in the news anymore -- the donations have slowed down, people are tired of donating," Piña added. "But we're still up here, we still need help, we still need assistance up here."

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Donations can be made at furryfriendsfoodre.wix.com/fffr or send to P.O. Box 1222, Oakley, CA, 94561.

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