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Thursday, April 16, 2015
YOLO COUNTY NEWS
99 CENTS
Evacuated animals find refuge at Yolo animal shelter
Prince, left, and Sis were among the livestock rescued over the weekend by Yolo County Animal Services as the Monticello Fire charred thousands of acres of land near Winters. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo
It wasn’t just two-legged souls who faced the threat of the Monticello Fire this past week.
Dozens of animals — including alpacas, horses, sheep, goats, even a pair of miniature donkeys — were temporarily housed at either the Yolo County Animal Shelter in Woodland or at private ranches after being evacuated from the Golden Bear Estates, an enclave of country homes along Highway 128 west of Winters.
The call for the animals’ removal came in at about 3 a.m. Saturday as the fire, which began Friday night near the Monticello Dam, more than doubled in size and posed a threat to the Golden Bear properties, Chief Animal Services Officer Vicky Fletcher said.
Some residents were out of town for the Fourth of July weekend and contacted Animal Services requesting help in moving their livestock because they couldn’t get home in time.
“It was definitely interesting,” Fletcher said of the evacuation effort, which included about five Animal Services personnel and several members of the Yolo County Sheriff’s Department’s volunteer Sheriff’s Posse.
“The ash was just raining down on us,” Fletcher said. “The flames weren’t dancing around us, but you could definitely feel the heat, and it was very smoky.”
Over the course of nine hours, officers removed about 30 alpacas, 12 horses, 10 sheep and several goats, along with the two donkeys. Private citizens offered trailers for transporting the animals as well as hay for feedings and space to house animals that couldn’t be accommodated at the Woodland shelter.
“There were also a lot of dogs and cats, but (the owners) had places for them to go,” Fletcher said. “The owners themselves were a big part of our success, because they were pretty well-organized.”
With the Golden Bear Estates’ mandatory evacuation order lifted as of Sunday night, most, if not all, of the animals were expected to be returned to their owners on Monday, Fletcher said.
— Reach Lauren Keene at [email protected] or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene
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