Help Our Pets through Disaster - San Diego Fire Storm 2007

By Linda Lee
It has truly been a week full of anxiety here at home, living through what has come to be known as San Diego Fire Storm 2007. Though we were among the fortunate to discover our home had been spared, night after night of following the dramatic news footage has really made me rethink the special place our pets and animals play in our lives. As heart-breaking as it was to watch so many homes lost to the fury of wildfires in Southern California, it was even harder when I realized that many animals and pets were left behind during the evacuation process. My dog Sugar, a Bichon Frise who turned one year old earlier this month, was stressing out the moment he smelled smoke in the air. We knew we could not stay long.

We live in Carmel Valley in San Diego. Starting late Sunday afternoon, 10/21/07, I noticed the smell of smoke coming from outside. Soon, the sky started getting dark and we realized that it must be a nearby fire. Sugar did not to want to go outside and began following us very closely, a behavior we know fondly as the Sugar Shadow. By Monday morning we watched the news tell us that the fire had gotten much worse over the long night and that our area was being evacuated. With my asthma being a very serious concern, we decided to get out of town where the air quality was not affected by the fires.

We found a pet-friendly room at the Westin Mission Hills Resort and Spa on 10/22/07 in Palm Springs area. This was Sugar’s first hotel stay. Despite how lush and beautiful the hotel was, Sugar remained alert and woke up with every noise. When housekeeping was cleaning the room next to us, our normally calm little cotton ball wanted to bark. The poor little guy was not able to eat regularly or take care of business on his short walks.

Unfortunately, Westin was sold out for Tuesday night 10/23/07. There were many people coming from San Diego to get away from the choking air. They recommended that we try to stay at the Las Palmas Resort which is another pet-friendly place, so we called and booked a night there. Unfortunately, we found Las Palmas to be roach friendly as well. We found a large cockroach in the middle of the room when we woke up the next morning. Fortunately we found it before Sugar! It was difficult to walk Sugar around the resort as grass at both the front and back of our room were dead with major renovation. We discovered that they started work at 7am with construction sounds waking us and Sugar up. This was disconcerting as they never notified us that this would be happening when we checked in… After 2 nights at Palm Springs, we were ready to come home.

Sugar was really happy to be home yet with hesitation to go outside due to poor air quality. We have since watched more TV coverage relating to San Diego Fire Storm 2007 and saw news about animals or lost pets. Our hearts go to all fellow pet owners and pets. We urge people to donate to the San Diego Humane Society’s Fire Storm 2007 to help with animal rescues and reuniting pets with their owners. While watching our own little guy, Sugar, deal with all the smoke, moving around and disruption to his life, we truly empathized with the struggles of the countless pets and animals and how they must have fared through this ordeal.

We love our Sugar and would love to extend that love to all fellow pet lovers!!!

Linda Lee is the founder of Sugar Paww, a company specializing in the most adorable pet gift baskets for our beloved dogs and cats. For more information please visit www.sugarpaww.com

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