Animals rescued after flooding hits B.C. shelter, support welcome
Six dogs were saved from certain doom Tuesday after a B.C. village animal rescue shelter was flooded. The Pemberton community has been quick to lend its support, but additional donations are encouraged
The quick actions of individuals nearby saved the lives of six dogs from rising floodwaters inside a Pemberton, B.C., animal rescue shelter.
The Pemberton Animal Wellbeing Society (PAWS) took to Instagram Tuesday morning to report a flood emergency at the shelter. The animals, which were five puppies and their mother, were rescued by two staff members from Blackcomb Helicopters. There was also a cat in the shelter at the time, but was safely located in part of the building that was above the floodwaters.
RELATED: Evacuation orders downgraded, but Pemberton residents warned to be prepared
Imogen Lowery, assistant manager for PAWS, told The Weather Network in an interview on Wednesday that the estimated timing of the rescue occurred between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. local time.
(Pemberton Animal Wellbeing Society/Submitted)
Blackcomb Helicopters' property is adjacent to the shelter and their staff are aware of the animals there.
Lowery said one of the staff members arrived to work early that morning, and noticed the shelter's yard was filling up with water. The person then heard the dogs and "immediately went into action," and was helped by a co-worker shortly after.
"We are immensely grateful for them [Blackcomb Helicopters]. From the sounds of it, it was a pretty close call," said Lowery. "I think the puppies were pretty high up in the water. So, if they had been a little later, who knows what could have happened?"
As soon as Lowery and others from PAWS saw the flooding, it was "our immediate, worst fears," Lowery said.
(Pemberton Animal Wellbeing Society/Instagram)
"It's just immense, immense relief. We're so incredibly grateful to them because it could have been a very, very different story," said Lowery.
"They're an amazing team of people. We've always had a super-relationship with them. They're all lovely, wonderful people. This just solidified it even further. We're very lucky to have the neighbours that we do."
(Pemberton Animal Wellbeing Society/Submitted)
Pemberton in state of local emergency, evacuation alert still in effect
From Thursday, Jan. 25, until the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 30, Pemberton has seen approximately 63.8 mm of rainfall. Of that total, 40.3 mm of rainfall has fallen since Monday morning –– resulting in the flooding on Tuesday.
As a result of situation, the Village of Pemberton declared a state of local emergency and issued an evacuation order on Tuesday because of the flooding.
However, the evacuation order for the six properties on Airport Road was downgraded to an alert on Wednesday, even though residents are expecting another round of heavy rain and possibly more flooding.
The now-downgraded evacuation order, which included PAWS, was instituted after the flooding had taken place at the shelter, Lowery noted in the interview that occurred while the order was in effect.
"If the evacuation order had been issued before, we wouldn't have had animals there. We would have removed them," said Lowery. "It was just a huge amount of unlucky events combining in this freak, quick flood that early morning."
As well, more than 50 properties are on evacuation alert in the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District. That includes the six Airport Road properties that were on the evacuation order.
Shelter remains closed
Lowery noted Tuesday's flooding wasn't the first occurrence of it at the shelter, citing an incident in 2003. PAWS is aware of its vulnerability to flooding and has procedures in place, doing its "best to flood-proof everything."
The shelter remains closed as a result of the flood, and Lowery doesn't know when it will reopen. Until the water subsides, staff won't know the extent of the damage.
"Basically, the flooding is only getting worse," said Lowery. "We're not even allowed [to go] down the road to go see the state of what it looks like."
The main damage will be to its dog enclosures and rooms, which are going to be "a big hit for us" because the shelter doesn't have a significant amount of space for dogs, she said.
"It's going to be very tough and it's going to really hinder our ability to take animals in whilst we recover from it," said Lowery.
Outpouring of support from the community was quick
Once news of the flooding was made public, it didn't take long for the Pemberton community to step up and show its support.
Many have offered to help with the physical cleanup or donations of specific items, she noted. However, because staff can't access the shelter right now to see what needs to be done, monetary donations are what PAWS can accept.
"We are, already, immensely grateful for just the amount of support we've already received," said Lowery.
The funds will go to repairs and new enclosures once the shelter is operational again. To make a donation to the ongoing recovery efforts, visit the "how you can help" section on its website. At the bottom of the page, there is a "help chip in" donation form to fill out.
"We live in a wonderful community where we're continuously supported the second anything happens. We have 100 people offering to help," said Lowery.
WATCH: Atmospheric rivers cause flooding around B.C.
Thumbnail is courtesy of the Pemberton Animal Wellbeing Society.
With files from The Canadian Press and CBC News.
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