Last updated: 09/30/21, 11:00 a.m. PST Animals Evaluated and/or Treated in the Field: 139+ Animals Treated at Hospital: 3
September 3, 2021
The unidentified cat is making progress and has been transferred to a foster home, she will be cared for on an outpatient basis.
August 27, 2021
The UC Davis veterinary hospital received one unidentified cat from the Dixie fire—a transfer from the Plumas County Animal Shelter. Please visit our Facebook page for more information about the cat.
August 24, 2021
The UC Davis Veterinary Emergency Response Team and Veterinary Field Services team remain on-site at the Plumas County evacuation center in Quincy, providing care for multiple species.
August 23, 2021
VERT continues to provide care as needed for the Dixie fire, including visiting shelters and establishing a Mobile Care Center. Two veterinarians currently remain on the scene.
August 19, 2021
UC Davis veterinarians in Plumas County. From left to right: Drs. Megan Ouyang, Michelle Hawkins, Lais Costa.
VERT started the day at the Plumas County Small Animal Shelter, where they treated one severely burned cat rescued from the fire. The cat was stabilized and later anesthetized for debridement and bandaging of the severely burned paws.
In the late morning, another burned cat was presented to us. The second cat had just been rescued from Greenville, the cat was also anesthetized for debridement and bandaging of the severely burned paws.
We also went to the large animal shelter at the Plumas / Sierra Fairgrounds and examined the ten horses and the three goats.
August 18, 2021
VERT truck with a Mobile Animal Stabilization Hospital Unit on loan from the Oiled Wildlife Care Network. The unit will be used as a mobile hospital near Quincy.
The UC Davis Veterinary Emergency Response Team (VERT) deployed to Plumas County today.
VERT assembled a small team of three veterinarians. Additionally, we were able to partner with Oiled Wildlife Care Network, who provided one of their Mobile Animal Stabilization Hospital Units and one Facilities Operations Specialist.
We met with Officer Saez and his crew, and the Ag Commissioner Willow Viera to plan our activities. The animal count in the Plumas County Small Animal Shelter at that time was 37 cats and 22 dogs, all of them had been evacuated by their owners. The large animal shelter at the Plumas / Sierra Fairgrounds housing 10 horses, 4 goats, 20 ducks and 44 chickens. We performed a walk-through of the Plumas County Small Animal Shelter facilities and inspected all the cats and dogs.
August 17, 2021
Yolo County Office of Emergency Services (OES) received a County-to-County resource request from the Plumas County to provide veterinary assistance to animals in communities affected by the Dixie Fire:
One large animal shelter
One small animal shelter
Animals sheltered-in-place operations, including providing feed and water and welfare checks in the area(s) that can be entered
Limited search & rescue operations in the field due to the fact that many areas still cannot be entered at the moment
Three American Red Cross shelters needing welfare checks of animals kept by owners while in the shelter
Additional information provided included the need to treat burn victims, and that future Search & Rescue Operations will likely be needed after Chester is re-opened.
After speaking with Officer Alex Saez, Plumas Animal Control Officer, we decided that the best plan of action was to set up a mobile animal hospital in Quincy near the two animal shelters, and have animals from the three American Red Cross shelters to be brought to us.
August 16, 2021
The Veterinary Emergency Response Team (VERT) is on standby to deploy once an official state/county request is initiated. VERT will respect the first-responders incident command and wait for the official request for deployment to ensure the safety of all involved.
The veterinary hospital engaged its Disaster Response Leadership Team and has initiated action to put the hospital on standby. Preparations to accept and treat animal fire victims are in progress. As the community's leading tertiary veterinary care center, the UC Davis veterinary hospital will provide as much resource to our community's veterinarians and animals as possible. While the hospital is prepared to accept patients, the majority of animal care will be focused on treatments in the field, as COVID-related protocols may impact the number of patients accepted.
UC Davis Veterinary Medicine has multiple online resources for animal owners to prepare for and deal with natural disasters:
UC Davis Veterinary Medicine is preparing to care for animals injured by the Dixie Fire. This situation is different than previous years of assisting with wildfires because of the issues caused by the pandemic.
To respond to the fire in a way that best utilizes our resources and to assist the greatest number of injured animals, our veterinary hospital clinicians and staff will prioritize our response to emphasize ambulatory (in the field) and telehealth consultation to maximize our service within our treatment area. Animals judged to need more intensive care or surgical intervention will take priority as hospitalized patients.
We are committed to treating as many animals as we can that are affected by the fires, and we greatly appreciate the community’s support during this extremely stressful and difficult time. Please stay tuned to this page and our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages for updates.
