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What happens to large animals evacuated in a fire? Here's how they're taken care of
Janet Peña, an agricultural tech at Pierce College, bottle feeds Juniper, a newborn goat.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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LAist
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When wildfires broke out earlier this month, Alexandra Chun watched the news in horror.
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When farm animals were evacuated from the fires, these college students were ready to help
“You just feel so helpless,” she told LAist. “The city is burning up, and your friends are losing their homes.”
Chun, a veterinary technology student at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, also feared for the safety of farm animals in fire-threatened areas.
And so, when her school put out a call for volunteers to help make accommodations for animal evacuees, Chun readily signed up.
Alexandra Chun, a veterinary tech student at Pierce College.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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LAist
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Pierce College has a vast, longstanding teaching farm. The campus made room for about 225 more animals, including horses, alpacas, goats, sheep, chickens, and pigs evacuated from this month’s wildfires.
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“Pierce has offered this service to the community for decades,” said farm manager Marcie Sakadjian. “As a college, we actually prepare this facility year-round in case there is any kind of natural disaster — be it fire or mudslides.”
An alpaca evacuated during the fires is currently being housed at Pierce College.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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LAist
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On Day 2 of the fires, Chun and nearly three dozen student volunteers worked through the night to build more pens for the animals.
“By the time we left,” she said, “the horses were really calm and peaceful. I felt at ease knowing they were comfortable.”
Nicole Peterson, another veterinary technology student, helped out by keeping the animals hydrated. With a hose, she kept their water buckets filled to the top.
Nicole Peterson, a student in the veterinary technology program.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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Identification numbers for evacuated animals held at Pierce College.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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LAist
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Since she lives nearby, Peterson would come by to help every day. Now that the Palisades and Eaton fires are nearly contained, many of the animals the students cared for are heading back home.
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This change is bittersweet; Peterson had grown fond of a potbellied pig named Thomas. He liked to hide and dart out from the hay when she called his name.
Why Pierce College is a safe haven
Students who major in agriculture can choose from various tracks like the pre-veterinary program, registered veterinary technology and equine science.
College administrators said students in these tracks learn a lot of skills that can be put to use in an emergency, making them ideal volunteers for wildfire evacuations.
Marcie Sakadjian, farm manager at Pierce College, and her staff of agricultural technicians and student workers.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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LAist
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Farm manager Sakadjian, herself a Pierce graduate, listed a few that came to mind:
- How to catch, halter, and restrain.
- How to notice an animal is not feeling well, and how to respond.
- How to triage medical issues.
“We also teach basic veterinary skills, like giving vaccines,” Sakadjian added. Her students also learn that “when animals go home, we can't just put another animal in that stall or corral.”
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Want to help the animals?
Pierce College no longer needs water hoses and similar items. But if you’d like to support their ongoing emergency programs for animals, or if you’d like to help impacted students, you can make a contribution on their Wildfire Response page.
“We have to thoroughly clean it out, which takes a lot of work,” she said. “You have to remove all of the feces, urine, bedding. We have to disinfect it. And then we can bring another animal into that housing.”
Before the emergency evacuations, Peterson took a class on urban farm techniques and another that taught her “all the breeds of horses and cattle and goats and pigs.” This knowledge, she said, gave her “the confidence to be able to step up and be a volunteer.”
When the animals came in, she became an extra set of eyes. If she noticed that an animal wasn’t drinking water, or if they had any cuts or bruises on their bodies, she shared that with the farm’s staff.
Animals from a ranch that had to be evacuated during the fires are currently being shetered at Pierce College.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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LAist
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It's not all stress
Janet Peña is an agricultural technician on the farm and another Pierce alum. On top of caring for its goats, she assists in many of the hands-on student labs.
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“Working with these animals can sometimes be a little bit intimidating,” she said. Her goal is to make sure students feel safe — and that they’re having a good time.
There are plenty of opportunities to do that.
The maternity barn at Pierce College.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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LAist
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New born goats at the maternity barn at Pierce College.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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LAist
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Peña and Sakadjian took LAist to a maternity ward on the farm, where baby goats were being born. On Monday morning, a goat named Hopper gave birth to four kids. Peña named them Jalapeño, Jynx, Jocelyn and Jorge.
“Every year, we pick a letter,” she explained. “That's how we determine, within the flock or the herd, how old everybody is.”
The maternity was full of baby goats, cuddling with each other or huddled under a heating lamp.
Janet Peña holds Juniper.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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LAist
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Peña has to bottle-feed Juniper.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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LAist
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One kid, named Juniper, was alone in her own stall.
She experienced some developmental issues in utero, Sakadjian said. Unlike most baby goats, who can stand and walk around immediately after being born, Juniper’s legs wouldn’t hold her up. Peña has been helping Juniper strengthen her legs by placing her in a box, which keeps Juniper from splaying them out.
As a result, Juniper’s mom has rejected her — “she smells like me,” Peña explained.
Peña has been bottle-feeding Juniper. Her legs are still a little wobbly, but every day, she’s getting stronger.
Do you have a question about the wildfires or fire recovery?
Check out LAist.com/FireFAQs to see if your question has already been answered. If not, submit your questions here, and we’ll do our best to get you an answer.
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Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive before year-end will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
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