FieldHaven Becomes an Island in the Storm
At 4:30 PM on Sunday, February 5, almost 200,000 people were instructed to immediately evacuate their homes as the Oroville reservoir threatened to overflow into communities across three counties.
By 5:30 PM, FieldHaven had been contacted for assistance in sheltering evacuated pets by several agencies.
Our staff and volunteers sprang into action and by 9:30 PM, an emergency evacuation center had been setup in a building in downtown Lincoln. Cats of evacuated residents and several animal shelters began arriving immediately.
By Monday afternoon, we had sixty-four cats in residence.
Owners left their cats with us, feeling reassured their “fur-kids” were in the best possible hands. Donations of supplies were brought in by the community. People stopped by to commend FieldHaven for helping out during an emergency.
For the first four days, we were staffed around the clock to ensure a safe place was available for people to bring their pets during the ongoing evacuation order.
Most of the kitties brought to us from the shelters were transferred into FieldHaven to make it easier for them to have space to accept pets displaced by the storms. When San Francisco SPCA (one of our partner organizations) heard about our large intake of cats, they offered to help by transferring cats to their facility!
Fortunately, the situation never turned as dire as it could have been. Everyone had a home to return to, and for that, we are grateful.
Yesterday, the last of the owned kitties went home with their grateful families, and the majority of thee cats needed new homes have been adopted.
Our mission is “to improve the human-animal bond and to ensure every cat in our community has a safe place to live.” We will always be there for our pet and human community. It’s what we do at FieldHaven, whether it is permanent homes or an emergency shelter. We couldn’t do it without your support!
We are hugely grateful to Phyllis Wong for donating the use of her building in downtown Lincoln for the evacuation center. Your donations will help us cover the cost of food, litter, supplies, and veterinary care for the kitties during their stay with us.
Print Friendly