OROVILLE — The North Valley Animal Disaster Group small animal shelter was busy Thursday as volunteers assisted Park Fire evacuees in getting their pets checked into the facility.
“It takes a bit to get checked in,” said Amy Anderson, a Cohasset resident who evacuated from her home around 5 p.m. Wednesday with her family, one adult cat, three adolescent cats and five kittens. “But everybody here has been great — prompt, professional and very patient. I’m so glad this shelter is here for my cats and other people’s pets.”
NVADG opened both its small and large animal shelters and began taking in animals at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. By 1 p.m. Thursday the small animal shelter had checked in 26 animals and the large animal shelter had checked in 34 animals but more people were arriving at both facilities to find a safe haven for their pets.
“We have the capacity to take 96 animals immediately at the large animal and 200 to 250 at the small animal shelter,” said Nikolay Ostrovsky, a Butte County Public Health senior program manager. “We can expand both shelters to take more animal if needed.”
The shelters are operated and managed by trained NVADG volunteers who work in rotating shifts. On Thursday there’re were 13 volunteers at the small animal shelter and five at the large animal shelter. There were also 15 volunteers on standby, ready to be deployed in animal evacuation teams if they were needed.
“The rescue teams assist with things like feeding animals that are sheltering in place,” said Ostrovsky. “They are also trained to go in and rescue animals if it is safe for them to do so.”
Both shelters are in Oroville. The small animal shelter is located at 2279 Del Oro Ave. and the large animal shelter is located at Camelot Equestrian Center at 1985 Clark Road. The shelters are open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. for animal intake.
The NVADG has an information hotline which is staffed from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. to answer questions. The hotline number is 530-895-0000. Information may also be found at the NVADG website at https://www.nvadg.org.
NVADG, in partnership with Butte County Animal Control, provides emergency shelters for small and large animals. NVADG volunteers train year-round on best practices for animal handling, feeding, first aid, disinfection procedures and stressed animal care for short-term disaster sheltering.
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