After a levee stopped working along the Pajaro River at around midnight last Friday, SPCA Monterey County reacted to the scene to rescue family pets caught by floodwaters. (Courtesy SPCA Monterey County)
PÁJARO – While the neighborhood of Pájaro was left reeling from catastrophe over the weekend, as flooding from the huge Pájaro River levee breach required thousands to leave their houses, SPCA Monterey County turned its attention to some relative left in the emergency situation.
“For many people, when they had to evacuate, they were unable to take their pets with them,” said Beth Brookhouser, vice president of marketing and interactions for SPCA Monterey County. “We started receiving calls pretty quickly after the flooding started.”
After the Pájaro River levee beached Friday around midnight, Brookhouser said the SPCA’s catastrophe action group was out at the scene Saturday, along with the California National Guard and other very first responders carrying out saves. Using high-water rescue automobiles released to help stranded locals, the SPCA had the ability to rescue family pets likewise caught by water.
The SPCA has actually been out in the Pájaro location every day because, reacting to demands made by displaced locals stressed over their family pets still housed in the flooded town. As of Thursday early morning, the SPCA was safeguarding 212 animals from the little neighborhood, consisting of cats, dogs, chickens, parakeets, parrots, a bunny and an iguana.
“They’re safe and doing very well with us,” Brookhouser said, including that the organization’s catastrophe action is “continuing to rescue any pets left behind.”
Brookhouser said most pet saves have actually been stimulated by owners calling into the SPCA. For evacuees who don’t have access to a phone, Brookhouser said the SPCA’s catastrophe action group has actually likewise been out in the neighborhood and at regional emergency situation shelters in case an owner wishes to request help face to face. The SPCA’s catastrophe action group is multilingual.
While days-long evacuation orders for the Pájaro neighborhood extended into Thursday, Brookhouser the SPCA has actually already begun to reunite some owners with their rescued family pets.
“A lot of people are sheltering with their pets,” Brookhouser said.
Apart from saves, the SPCA is supplying pet food and products to all regional emergency situation shelters, in addition to anybody leaving with their family pets in other places, totally free of charge.
Over the last couple of days, Brookhouser said brand-new calls into Pájaro have actually originated from worried owners who did not anticipate to deal with evacuation for as long as they have.
“We are still hearing from people that thought they wouldn’t have to be evacuated for too long and left food, but now they’re starting to get worried about their pets,” Brookhouser said.
An evacuation caution for the Pájaro neighborhood at first entered into impact Thursday, March 9, and intensified into an order a day later on. Since leaving, around 1,700 locals have actually been obstructed from returning to their houses, in spite of declining floodwaters. Dozens of individuals collected at the Main Street bridge over the river in between Watsonville and Pájaro Wednesday and grumbled about the continuous evacuation orders, The Mercury News reported.
Monterey County authorities were scheduled to have an interview Thursday afternoon to go over: “Public Safety, Reentry Procedures, (and) Supporting Disaster Victims,” county representative Maia Carroll said in a message to media outlets. Crews working all the time closed the 400-foot Pajaro River levee breach Tuesday night, finishing the preliminary of prepared repair work. Work will continue over the next week or more to raise the emergency situation breach repair work to the complete levee height.
According to county authorities, the existing levee repair work is holding water streams from the Pájaro River, which have, for the a lot of part, been declining since Saturday morning. Meanwhile, a flood warning from the National Weather Service for the levee failure that was set to end Thursday at midday was reached Friday at midday rather.
Amid unpredictability, Brookhouser guaranteed the family pets of Pájaro are and will continue to be safe with the SPCA.
“Pets are family,” she said. “We are so thankful that Monterey County recognizes that. SPCA Monterey County has a seat with the Office of Emergency Services in a situation like this. They understand that pets are a part of the family. …We’ll always be there when a disaster happens in our community.”
To keep services going, Brookhouser said the SPCA is searching for contributions, especially pet food. For more info, go to www.SPCAmc.org/donate.
