Just a moment to get this out to you. It is from the Kelowna Courier...don't have time to go back and pick up the link as people are waiting in line to use the computer.

Bye for now,
Gail

By Ron Seymour

The Daily Courier

Dozens of pets stranded inside the evacuation zone have been brought out to safety by volunteers with an animal rescue group.

Dogs, cats, bunnies, fish, turtles, gerbils and livestock have been rescued by members of the Noah’s Wish society, who are going door to door in the evacuated neighbourhoods.

“Other than being hungry and a little skittish, almost all the animals we’ve picked up have been in good condition,” Donna Wackerbauer, a Noah’s Wish volunteer, said Tuesday.

About 5,600 people remain out of their homes, though many were allowed back in briefly to collect personal items and check on their property.

Since the mass evacuations occurred last Thursday and Friday, as fire swept toward Kelowna’s southern suburbs, an unknown number of animals were left behind.

“Some people had cats and dogs who were outdoors at the time, and they couldn’t find them before they had to leave,” said Wackerbauer.

“Others might have been away from their houses when the evacuations were ordered, and they weren’t able to go back in to get their pets.”

That’s what happened to the Schwab family, who live on Viewcrest Road.

Family members were away from their house when the evacuation order for their neighbourhood was issued late Friday, and they couldn’t return to get their two dogs, two cats, two birds and rabbit.

“I was really worried about what would happen to the animals,” said Ashley Schwab.

Ashley, 17, and her father watched the fire from his boat Friday evening, and she saw a bucket-equipped helicopter drop water on their home and others along Viewcrest.

“We thought the house was OK, but there was no way to know for sure,” says Ashley’s mom, Sherry Daniels.

On Saturday morning, a friend of the family, Kelowna RCMP Const. Gord Geary, accompanied Wackerbauer to check on the house and the animals.

“The bush around the house was all burned, but the water that was dropped by the helicopter must have saved the house,” Geary said. “We found the dogs outside; they seemed OK, but they were pretty hungry.”

The cats and birds inside were fine, but the rabbit couldn’t be found.

The family says they can’t thank firefighters enough for saving the house and the animals.

“You can’t imagine how frightening it must have been for them, with fire all around,” Daniels said. “But they’re OK, and that’s the main thing.”

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