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Downey, CA…
Four SEAACA animal control officers gathered their gear loaded
their trucks, checked lead ropes and horse trailer tires then headed
South on the 5 freeway to San Diego late this morning. The 2-hour
trip will put them at the animal rescue command center located in
Escondido, at Via Rancho Parkway and the 15 freeway by 1pm today
(Tuesday).
SEAACA’s strike team consists of an equipped truck
and horse trailer, an animal control transport vehicle, lead ropes,
leashes, animal carriers, flashlights, water, safety equipment, two
way radios and four experienced rescue officers. “We’re happy to
help our sister agencies and their communities in this time of
need,” says Captain Aaron Reyes, who provided the 30 minute briefing
this morning to the officers responding to the fires. “Animals are a
big part of our lives and residents may need assistance with
evacuating them,” Reyes stated.
Much like police and fire agencies, SEAACA cooperates
under mutual aid to help neighboring agencies during disasters.
This type of cooperation is important when resources quickly become
exhausted in emergency situations, such as the wildfires occurring
throughout San Diego County. “We train for these types of
scenarios, but the reality is sometimes very different than mock
situations,” stated Reyes. “Three years ago we thought we had lost a
fully loaded horse trailer in a fire storm off Highway 8 (in San
Diego) while assisting in the wildfires then, but got lucky when the
fire laid back down allowing the officer to re-start their vehicle
and get to safer territory with four horses they had just rescued,”
Reyes exclaimed.
SEAACA reminds residents to be prepared for disasters
and include your pets in the plan. For information preparing a
disaster plan, please visit
www.seaaca.org and click on the Disaster Preparedness link. |
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Animal
Law Enforcement & Rescue
