Pet boarding facility near Kamloops overwhelmed by support during wildfire evacuation
A long-established pet boarding facility in Kamloops' Knutsford area was evacuated when the Ross Moore Lake wildfire burning south of the city got too close for comfort.
TLC for Pets owner Tammy Osborne made the decision to evacuate Saturday evening when her neighbours, roughly four kilometres away, were ordered to evacuate. Her property was included in last night's, July 23, evacuation order update.
"I wasn’t going to wait for the order, or deal with one in the middle of the night,” she said.
Along with her family's dogs and horses, 68 dogs, a bunny and a lizard being boarded were evacuated that night.
Having so many animals in her care, Osborne always has an evacuation plan in place and different kennels ready to transfer dogs to, but it's still a mammoth task. While her husband was transporting the family’s horses to safety, Osborne posted on social media announcing the facility’s evacuation and said the response was unbelievable.
“I had old employees show up, old customers from years ago, new customers, neighbours and people I didn’t even know,” she said. “My husband couldn't get back into the driveway. Everyone helped, it was a crazy amount of support."
While Osborne was checking voicemails, messages and emails from pet owners, her property on Edith Lake Road filled up with people picking up dogs or just showing up to help. Those that picked up dogs later reunited them with their owners, or the owners' emergency contacts..
“I was not expecting that many people to show up, I was more in shock of that than the evacuation, the packing up took only two hours,” she said.
TLC for Pets has been operating at the rural location at 73 Edith Lake Rd. for roughly 15 years and is well-known in the Kamloops area. The family owns four horses and five dogs, a hamster, a snake, fish and chickens. The chickens were left behind, well stocked with food and water.
“We don’t pen our chickens, they’re all over the place, it would’ve been impossible to round them all up,” Osborne said. “They’ll hide under their houses. Our roosters are good at protecting them and we aren’t right on the forest line.”
The family of four moved to the Someday Retrievers property in Cherry Creek and are living in their RV. The Cherry Creek community stepped up to provide hay for their horses.
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“We get emails every ten minutes offering us help and support,” she said. “I have no worries anymore about having enough help, that was unbelievable.”
Osborne said she and her family are doing alright emotionally, but she feels responsible for the customers who need boarding right now.
“I love waking up to all the animals and I’m missing that. I’m sad for people I couldn’t help trying to drop off dogs,” she said. “Some ask when we’ll be open again. Of course, I don’t have an answer for that. I feel bad for the regular dogs, who are old, blind or deaf, to not have a familiar place to go to.”
The crisis will cost the family financially, but Osborne is grateful to be safe.
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The Ross Moore Lake Wildfire is burning 24 kilometres south of Kamloops and triggered hundreds of evacuation orders and alerts yesterday, July 23. The fire was discovered at 1:48 p.m. Friday and, by 5:40 p.m. last night, had grown to 1,800 ha.
An evacuation order is in place for 344 properties in the Lac Le Jeune area as of 7:30 p.m. last night and an evacuation alert is in place for another 157 properties.
The Thompson Nicola Regional District alerts and orders can be seen here.
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