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Holy Fire dogs up for adoption at Rancho Coastal Humane Society

As the Holy Fire continues to wreak havoc on parts of Riverside and Orange counties, animal shelters in the impacted areas are making room for lost pets. To accommodate an influx of displaced dogs,...

SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) — As firefighters make progress on the Holy Fire, which has devastated parts of Riverside and Orange counties, animal shelters in the impacted areas have had to make room for lost pets. To accommodate an influx of displaced dogs, some of the canines who were already in those shelters were moved to San Diego this week.

Starting Thursday, some of the dogs – which have been given appropriate names like Ash and Ember by shelter workers – are available for adoption.  

According officials at Rancho Coastal Humane Society, they were contacted last week by their rescue partners at Animal Friends of the Valleys in Wildomar to say they were overcrowded due to arrivals of animals displaced by the fire. They asked RCHS to take in some pups who had been in AFV’s care before the fire and the local shelter answered the call to help AFV create space for newly arriving evacuees. 

News 8’s Kelly Hessedal visited the pups on Thursday and shares information on how you can take one home:  

The new arrivals at RCHS include these aptly named dogs: 

  • Ash: a one-and-half-year-old male Siberian Husky (73 pounds) 
  • Ember: a four-year-old female Shepherd mix (63 pounds) 
  • Flame: a four-year-old male Chow Chow mix (56 pounds) 
  • Smokey: six-year-old male Akita mix (73 pounds) 
  • Kona: two-year-old female Labrador mix (52 pounds) 
  • Hook and Ladder: two-month-old Shepherd mix puppies (21 pounds each) 

With our local shelters stepping up to help these dogs, facilities in the Holy Fire areas will have room for lost dogs to be cared for until they are reunited with their owners. 

“These are indirect victims of the Holy Fire,” says Kathy Zerkle, RCHS Vice President of Adoption Services. “They were already being cared for by our rescue partners at Animal Friends of the Valleys in Wildomar. They had more fire victims pouring in with no place to care for them. They asked if we could take some of their animals to create space for the new victims.” 

Zerkle pointed out that these are fire victims, even though they weren’t evacuated from their homes. 

“With the smell and the sense of urgency in the shelter, they knew that something was wrong. We got them out of there as soon as possible, before any permanent damage could take place,” The puppies will be isolated until they’ve had their medical and behavioral examinations, according to Zerkle. 

A quick look at the youngest Holy Fire dogs Hook and Ladder:

Click here to view on YouTube.

If you would like to help the dogs but can’t adopt, RCHS is also accepting donations to cover the costs associated with the Holy Fire dogs and other arriving at RCHS each week.

For more information call 760-753-6413 or log on to SDpets.org.

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