Update – 7/29/2016: From The Deaf Dog Rescue of America’s FB page – concerning the Sand Fire evacuation of their 50 deaf rescue dogs to Lancaster Prison
We are grateful to the firefighters that put their lives on the line to battle the#sandfire. More than 38,000 acres, 18 homes lost and one human fatality. Today the fire is at 85% containment and there are still 1700 firefighters battling it.
The dogs come home tomorrow! We are busy here making the Ranch ready for the dogs. So much work….water buckets and pools are scrubbed and ready to be filled early in the morning. Kennels are clean, fresh blankets at the ready. Special diets are prepared and waiting. So are our open arms and we are very excited. Can pretty much guarantee that when they are all safely in their kennels snoring, I’m going to melt into a huge puddle of tears from sheer thankfulness and relief.
Stay tuned! Will try to get lots of pictures tomorrow! Lisa Tipton – Deaf Dog Rescue of America
From Christina of Deaf Dogs Rock: Our friends Lisa and Mark Tipton have had a rough few days as the Sand Fires where moving closer and closer to their Deaf Dog Rescue of America in Acton, CA. Luckily their friends, previous adopters, volunteers, and kennel staff made their way through many road closures to show up just in the nick of time to help evacuate all 50 deaf dogs at the rescue and take them to the Lancaster prison. The Lancaster prison has the Karma Rescue Paws For Life Program where the inmates work and train rescue dogs from local shelters to help them to become a Canine Good Citizens for a better chance at finding loving homes.
I think in the long run this evacuation to the prison will be a great experience for the inmates to have the opportunity to work deaf dog and find out how much rewarding it can be and just how much deaf dogs rock! Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire DDRA team. If you would like to help the Deaf Dog Rescue of American they can really use donations to help out click here to make a donation directly to their rescue.
(Courtesy of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)
From the Deaf Dog Rescue of America’s FB page – July 25, 2016
Our decision to evacuate the dogs today wasn’t taken lightly. We knew if we had an issue in the middle of the night, Mark and I would be here alone with 45 dogs to load up. Not a can-do. It wasn’t mandatory, nor did we have impending flames licking at our heels. We decided to be better safe than sorry because we love our dogs here. They come first, always. We struggled to find a place that would be able to accept all of the dogs, splitting them up wasn’t wise.
We were invited to bring the dogs to the high security State Prison in Lancaster, so that the inmates can help us care for them. Mark is the head trainer for the Karma Rescue Paws For Life dog training program there. We arrived to find the man-cages ready for the dogs….food, water, beds, igloos!
To all of the wonderful people who braved closed roads and traffic to get to us, thank you.
We left the dogs there late Sunday night after getting settled and went home to man the Ranch to watch for approaching fire and try to get a little bit of sleep. The dogs were bewildered and watched us walk out the gates. The looks on their faces made me cry when things quieted down and I had time to think about it. I have to admit that I felt guilty leaving them there.
We went back to help with breakfast, as meal and med times are pretty confusing. Some of our dogs are allergic and have special diets.
What we found when we walked into the yard was nothing short of amazing. The inmates had handled breakfast beautifully. They were getting the dogs out for exercise and cleaning their runs. The dogs were thriving under their care and had wagging tails and smiles on their faces.
From the Los Angeles Times
(Courtesy of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)
Lancaster prison hosts deaf dogs evacuated from Sand fire area by Sarah Parvini – July 26, 2015
A Lancaster prison is providing shelter for rescue animals as the Sand fire continues to burn in the Santa Clarita Valley.
The State Prison-Los Angeles County is watching over nearly 50 deaf dogs from the Deaf Dog Rescue of America in Acton, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The rescue said it struggled to find a place that would be able to accept all of the dogs, which are now being cared for by inmates.
To read the entire story click here to go to the Los Angeles Times
