Goodwin Fire: Hundreds Of Animals Evacuated
We’ve heard about the thousands of people who had to evacuate the Goodwin Fire. But we haven’t heard much about the hundreds of four-legged creatures forced to leave.
The fire has burned 25,000 acres just south of Prescott in an area known for its many ranches and farms.
Daysha Adams had to evacuate her family of seven humans along with all of her animals. She was so relieved when she found shelter for her pigs, chickens, dogs, cats and ducks.
"We have been really stressing, didn’t know where we were going to put our animals," Adams said.
The large animals are housed in a giant barn at the old Yavapai County Fairgrounds, while the dogs and cats are at the local high school next to the Red Cross shelter.
In Spike Hicks’ 16 years with Animal Disaster Services he’s never seen so many animals.
"We took in a total of 49 horses, one burro, one mule, two ponies, 12 goats, five pigs, three peacocks, 34 chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese, three alpaca and eight sheep," Hicks said.
Hicks said some horses have refused to eat or drink. One older horse even died after reaching the shelter.
As stressful as it is for animals, Hicks said it’s even worse to leave them to fend for themselves in a fire.
He said two cowboys, a couple of heroes, drove their horse trailer around to pick up animals who had been abandoned.
