San Diego Fires: Taking Care of Your Pet

If you life in Southern California where the wildfires are burning and have a pet, there are some things you should know about to help keep your pet healthy. During emergencies such as wildfires, animals experience a spike in adrenalin, increased sense of panic and general confusion, similar to humans.

In particular dogs, cats and birds are especially sensitive to the smoke. In many cases they can smell smoke before humans can. Typically you will observe nervousness, aggression and resistance to being contained. Be especially careful when handling your pets, as they may attempt an uncharacteristic escape.

Air Quality

If you have the ability to minimize their expose to smoke, do whatever you can. Running an air purifier in your home will be also be helpful. Cats and birds are especially susceptible to respiratory complications associated with smokey air.

Clean their Fur, Skin and Paws

If your pet has been outdoors, the falling ash may be on their fur. Use a good comb to brush out your dog or cat's coat. It is important to get the ash out, so they do not ingest the ash as they try to groom themselves.

Comfort your pet to help them relax

Your pet can sense your own stress as well. Help them calm down by doing a few simple things:

For Dogs: If it is safe, take them for a long walk, give them plenty of exercise and play with them.

For Cats: Distract them as much as possible by using toys, and treats.

For Birds: Provide toys, be sure they are clean and your bird is interested in them.

Dogs & Cats: Brush them, this rythym alone usually helps soothe their nerves

All pets: Where appropriate, bathe your pets, provide fresh water for them to access other than for drinking.

Reward your pet with healthy treats and provide lots of love and attention during the day.

Note: I am not a vet or animal health care provider. Always consult your vet with any serious issues or concerns.

-Rick Rockhill

San Diego Fires: Help Animals in Need

If you would like to help animals affected by the California Wildfires you can make a donation via the petco website by clicking here.

Thanks
-Rick Rockhill

San Diego Fires: Helping Animals in Need

As the San Diego wildfires continue to rage, over 1 million people have been evacuated from their homes. Its still too early to know the full extent of the damage and destruction, but it has been extensive. I found this photo (at left) from www.signonsandiego.com it really conveys the sense of horror of these fires. I left San Diego on Monday when my condo in Scripps Ranch was evacuated. I went back to Palm Springs and spent today working from home. I am doing my part to help the "crisis management team", providing assistance and support to pet parents that have been evacuated and displaced in shelters with their pets. Our field operations management team have been working around the clock to deliver animal supplies to shelters, deliver kennels, cages, bowls, leashes and food wherever needed. Although I am working remotely, my role has been to work closely with our vendor partners to coordinate donations of supplies.

Today there was a call for bird seed, hay for horses, kennels and crates for dogs and cats, and leashes for dogs. Many people who fled their homes did not have time to gather all these supplies, and now find themselves at a makeshift shelter trying to care for their beloved pet. I continue to be impressed by the good nature and generosity of the many vendor partners that we work with everyday.

The PETCO team have been focused on supporting our stores and helping animals in need. So many employees have pitched in to help deliver supplies, and volunteer at public shelters. A few of our stores were short-handed due to employees unable to get to work. Employees from our national support center (corporate office) worked in the stores to help customers and keep things running smoothly. I am proud to work for PETCO, we are a company with a lot of energy and passion. The fires are still quite serious, and far from over, but it helps to know there are so many people with kind hearts and plenty of compassion. At PETCO, that is exactly what we're about.

Above: Horses evacuated in advance of raging fires in San Diego. There are many horses being cared for, we have been working to help provide feed, bales of hay and supplies to keep these horses safe and healthy.
-Rick Rockhill

San Diego Fires: Update

I am one of the lucky ones that managed to leave my home in San Diego yesterday afternoon and returned safely to Palm Springs. I continue to follow the news about what's going on. The fires are destroying so many homes and businesses that it's difficult to imagine. They have been saying this is "The Perfect Fire Storm": unusually dry conditions from a lack of rain, very heavy winds, and hotter temperatures than normal. The photo above is from http://www.signonsandiego.com/, as is this update below:

The Witch Creek fire still burning already has left a grim toll: 500 homes destroyed and 250 damaged; 100 commercial buildings destroyed and 75 damaged; 50 outbuildings destroyed and 50 more damaged. Thousands more homes and businesses continue to be threatened by the raging fires

Here is a map of the fires in Southern California:

San Diego Fires: My Personal Experience

San Diego, California is on fire. A series of massive fires are burning and causing massive, massive damage. The Witch and Harris Fires are the worst ones, with over 150,00 acres (60,713,000 hectares for my Brit readers) burned so far. San Diego county smells of smoke and is has soot falling everywhere, like snow. Photo above left: Satellite image of Southern California shows the massive fires that are visible FROM OUTER SPACE. Here is my story...

Monday morning I made my usual weekly drive from Palm Springs to San Diego for a few days at the office. I was not fully prepared for what I would encounter. I made my usual journey from I-10, and discovered that route 79 through Banning was closed for some reason, so I took the mountain pass through route 60. There were intense winds blowing sand, making visibility quite difficult. By the time I made it all the way south on the 15, it was nearly 5:00 AM and I-15 was shut down. The wildfire had jumped the freeway, making it impossible to pass. I was diverted along route 78 to the I-5 freeway along the Pacific Ocean coastline. After several hours in the car with Shimi (dog) and Owen (cat), I reached the area where there was evidence of the massive San Diego wildfires that were burning. Following are some photos I took myself while escaping San Diego on Monday evening:

Above: while driving south on I-5, I saw the massive smoke cloud in the distance, & above right: as I continued to drive south the smoke cover grew darker.

Above: By this point I was completely under the smoke cover, which was still quite high above the highway. the immediate air in front of my car was still clear, as you can see.
Pets Need Help too!

One of the things my staff and I did today was to call all of our dog and cat vendors to ask for support and donations of food, kennels, bowls, leashes, etc. We had great success with our vendors. We were able to round up quite a bit of dog and cat food, bowls, kennels, carriers, leashes, and other supplies for pets displaced due to the fires. PETCO has sent all sorts of supplies to the local evacuation centers where people have evacuated their homes with their pets. In some ways, I feel the most sad for the animals, who are scared, confused and jittery. Thank you to all of our wonderful vendors who are helping us support pets in need.
The Evacuations Continue
All day long, various towns and neighborhoods within San Diego county were ordered to be evacuated. At 1:00 pm my company closed the office, so I bailed out. Once at my condo, I decided that I just didn't feel safe in San Diego and decided to leave town and head back to Palm Springs. I took the only highway out of San Diego that was still open or moving. Shimi (my dog) was restless in the car, perhaps he was nervous from the smoke. I drove as far east as I could on route 8 to get far away from San Diego. Eventually I made it to the Cleveland National Forest. Here are some of the photos I was able to take:

Above: These don't look too threatening, but these are views looking west of the San Diego fires, from the Cleveland National Forest.

After I safely passed through this part of San Diego county, this area was closed and evacuated. I was one of the last passenger vehicles to escape town on this road.

As of this evening, authorities report that as of now over 300,00 people have been evacuated from their homes, 500 homes have been destroyed (known so far), and another 5,000 homes are at risk of being burned. I am grateful to have escaped San Diego to my home in Palm Springs but I am fully aware that there are people in San Diego who don't have that luxury, and certainly are not as comfortable as I am this evening. Please keep San Diegans in your thoughts and prayers at this difficult time.
-Rick Rockhill