Our friends in the Southern Interior of BC are doing amazing work to help the animals in the 2021 wildfire zone. This has been a long and brutal summer with many families and their animals impacted by the fires. Homes and farms have been lost and thousands of families and their animals have been evacuated and scattered around the province.

Having been through this in 2018, we know how grateful we were for all the support we received, from local donors to the groups like the Postmen who came in with resources from other areas to assist our community.

We reached out to our friend Katie Ernst to advise which groups to support – for those who want to make a donation to help the incredible work that is under way. We have worked with Katie for quite a few years now. Katie has been organizing pet food donation deliveries from the Lower Mainland to the LINK Food Centre in Burns Lake for our hungry animals. Right now she is helping with a variety of emergency needs in the fire zone.

As Katie says, the “big groups” do some awesome work, but there are lots of smaller groups that shoulder a huge amount of the rescue effort. They are out there getting the job done and don’t have fundraising teams to fill up your inbox with funding requests.

“One of the big gaps is emergency veterinary care. Animals coming in from the fire zone may be injured, dehydrated, need medications and other veterinary assistance. Groups like Four Paws Food Bank are working hard to fill in this missing link.” Says Katie.

Four Paws Food Bank – Four Paws Food Bank (Kamloops) | Charity Profile | Donate Online | Canadahelps

Here are some of Katie’s other top picks for groups to support:

ALERT (Animal Lifeline Emergency Response Team) – Donate (paypal.com)

You can support the activities of the BC/Alberta Emergency Livestock group (hauling / transport volunteers) through: BC Wildfire Donation – Horse Council BC (hcbc.online)

Pet Safe Coalition – How to Help | Pet Safe Coalition Society of Canada

Animal Food Bank – About Us | Animal Food Bank | British Columbia | Alberta | Manitoba

Our thanks to Katie for sharing her perspectives and for being one of our critter care superheroes!

For help in preparing your family (including the furry family members) for disasters like wildfires – check out the resources on the CDART web site here: Preparing for a disaster — CDART

Photo: BC / Alberta Livestock/Animal/Horse Evacuation Support Group (facebook)