Here is another sad aftermath to the California fires. These are not strays or abandoned dogs, but from people who lost homes or otherwise suffered changed circumstances and decided they could not keep their pets.

Homeless dogs from California wildfires can be adopted here

written by: Kyle Clark , Reporter
posted by: Sara Gandy , Web Producer created: 11/25/2007 10:01:46 PM

Last updated: 11/26/2007 7:21:13 AM
KUSA – Sixty-six "crisis dogs" given up by their owners on the fire-ravaged West Coast have been brought to Colorado to find new homes.


The looks on many of the dogs' faces seem to say, "What did I do wrong?"

Lucy Pribbenow, who works with the animal rescue group Muttshack, says that is a natural reaction for dogs in this situation.

"Most of these aren't strays off the streets," she said. "They've already been in someone's home."

So adjusting to life in a makeshift animal shelter in a Loveland warehouse is difficult.

"You see the same behavior, psychologically, in these dogs that you do with someone you threw into the prison system who's never been there before," Pribbenow said. "They weren't used to the system."

Many of the dogs cower in the back of their kennels, unaccustomed to the barking of other dogs and the close quarters.

Pribbenow says their "prison" is only temporary. On Monday, the dogs will be placed with foster families as they go through a series of veterinary checkups and receive any necessary care.

Within the next week or two, the dogs will be available for adoption through the Animal House shelter in Fort Collins. The shelter previously hosted animals displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

"This is a different situation than Katrina because pets are treated different in California," said Animal House founder Ali Eccleston. "A lot of Katrina dogs that we got had never been in a house before."

The dogs rescued from the shelters in California are "more well-adjusted", according to Eccleston.

Potential adoptive families can rest easy that these are not dogs that simply ran away during the wildfires and may have owners back in California looking for them.

As areas were evacuated, some residents left their dogs at shelters. Some owners returned after the evacuation to say they had lost their homes, or otherwise could no longer care for the pets. Those are the animals that were brought to Colorado.

Pribbenow brought a cot and sleeping bag to the warehouse in Loveland to spend the night comforting the dozens of barking dogs. She said while they may be an unfamiliar and frightening situation, she wanted to assure them they've done nothing wrong.

For more information on adopting one of the "crisis dogs", call Animal House at (970) 224-3647 or visit their Web site by clicking here.
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