SerpApi.Org
An emergency shelter at the Pueblo County Parks and Rec Center is now housing about 240 animals displaced by the Aspen Acres Fire, giving evacuated families a place to bring their pets when hotels and other housing won't.
The shelter was set up on June 29, the day the fire started, according to Nicole Michon, animal law enforcement training and response manager for the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region.
"Here at the Parks and Rec center in Pueblo County, we are currently hosting an evacuation site for animals that have been displaced by the Aspen Acres Fire," Michon said.
Intakes were slow at first, but picked up quickly, she said.
"I would say the first day, not as many intakes, it was more or less that second day, that second day is when it really started to ramp up," Michon said. "We are looking at a total of about 240 animals here at our shelter currently."
Michon said the shelter fills a critical gap for families who are forced to leave home but can't find lodging that accepts animals.
"You can, as a human, go into a hotel, but will that hotel allow you to bring your animal there?" Michon said.
She said she has fielded phone calls from families who were told to evacuate but learned the place they planned to stay would not take their pets.
"As soon as I was able to tell them, you can come to this address, bring your animal here, you can hear that sigh — that sigh comes out of their shoulders, a sigh of relief, like I am on my way," Michon said.
Michon said knowing pets have somewhere to go can also affect whether people evacuate at all.
Josh Cary, national field director for American Humane Rescue, said housing large numbers of animals together brings added risks beyond the heat and smoke that have affected the shelter since it opened.
"They are in closer proximity too, so it's not just heat, it's not just air quality, it's...but it's potentially disease spread; those are all things we transfer over from brick and mortar sheltering," Cary said.
To manage conditions inside, staff have been propping doors open to improve airflow through the buildings, Michon said.
The extended hours have taken a toll on some staff members, particularly those responding to their first large-scale emergency.
"Our team did feel some of that burnout that first week," Michon said. "This for some of my members — first event they have ever worked, so to see it of this magnitude can be very stressful."
Michon said messages of encouragement posted around the facility, along with interactions with community members, have helped keep staff motivated.
"The biggest thing I have realized is it's words of appreciation," Michon said. "So they are getting to see that job well done, and I think it just continues to keep them going, keep them engaged."
Michon said there is no clear endpoint to the work.
"Anybody who is on it knows there is no start and end time," she said. "I think I look at it as a job well done."
The Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region is also reminding pet owners to pack a go-bag for their animals, including food, a bed, medications, a bowl and veterinary records.
The evacuation shelter for pets is located at 1521 Cooper Pl, Pueblo, CO 81006.
