Animal rescuers in Lake County working around the clock to aid pet owners

Veronica Baylor is no stranger to fire and the toll it has taken on her Lake County community year after year.

But last Saturday, Baylor, a seasoned pet and livestock rescuer amid the region’s string of wildfires, was evacuating her Lakeport home.

A friend helped her relocate three horses to a Lower Lake stable. Then, when evacuation orders became mandatory, another friend took her two miniature horses to safety in the back of an Isuzu Trooper as Baylor prepared to flee with her family, including her children ages 12 and 9. Since that day, the Mendocino Complex fires have kept them on the move, first in Kelseyville then to Riviera West.

Through it all, the volunteer coordinator for Lake Evacuation and Animal Protection - LEAP - was fielding calls and mapping out rescue efforts.

“(The fires) all start to blend together,” said Baylor, 38. “This one is still so different to me personally because usually people are evacuated on the other side of the lake, and I can go home and decompress from it.”

This time, she added, “I was evacuated and not sleeping.”

LEAP, an effort between Lake County’s Animal Care and Control staff and trained volunteers, was founded in 2011. It removes or shelters in place animals in evacuation zones. About 20 volunteers were on the ground Friday in Spring Valley, on the northeast side of Clear Lake, where the Ranch fire was threatening homes. The same community was affected earlier this summer by the Pawnee fire, which burned on the western side of the Indian Valley Reservoir.

Help was also coming from volunteers with ASPCA, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Since the fires began July 27, 20,000 people, most of them Lake County residents, have been forced from their homes, officials said Friday. LEAP was activated by law enforcement officials at 1 p.m. July 28, and has worked with Cal Fire to gain access to mandatory evacuation areas where their help is needed most, said William Davidson, Lake County’s animal care and control director.

The team attends Cal Fire morning briefings, and sends volunteers outfitted with full protective gear to areas where the fire is headed, Davidson said. It also responds to calls, with about 700 requests for service logged by Friday afternoon, he said.

The county’s animal shelter in Lakeport is in an area that has been evacuated because of the River fire. On Friday, it housed 250 animals brought by LEAP from fire zones, Davidson said. Sonoma County Animal Services, Anderson Valley Animal Rescue and other entities cleared the shelter to make room for displaced pets, he said.

Another shelter in Kelseyville housed about 60 animals brought in by fire victims. Forty horses were at a network of ranches around Lake County, Davidson said. Displaced animals include a tortoise, llamas, goats, pigs, dogs and cats.

“They’re doing good - many of them are scared and don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “At least for me, I know they’re safe. Getting them back to owners is another challenge. It’s an involved process that goes on for a month or more.”

Some animals in areas safe from flames but in evacuation zones are visited by volunteers who bring food and water about every two days.

In the 2015 Valley fire, LEAP fielded more than 3,000 calls for service and sheltered 450 animals.

In Kelseyville, about 9 miles south of Lakeport, Debbie James, the president of the Lake County Horse Council, is housing 23 displaced horses and seven people who are camping on her 10-acre Gaddy Shack Ranch.

Horses and people have moved in and out as evacuations have shifted, she said. She has 20 of her own horses, and didn’t follow mandatory evacuation notices this week because of her proximity to the lake, orchards and vineyards, which can act as a fuel brake.

Lake County residents responded to her calls on social media for help evacuating horses, and she’s also expecting LEAP to bring evacuees. “All the animals are family,” she said. “All the people are family. We’re a tight-knit community and we want to help anyone in any way we can.”

You can reach Staff Writer Hannah Beausang at 707-521-5214 or hannah.beausang@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @hannahbeausang.