To The Rescue A CALL FOR HELP On September 7th, right in the middle of a worldwide pandemic and everything else plaguing our world, the beautiful Pacific Northwest began seeing yet another huge hurdle, widespread wildfires. In the Albany and surrounding areas, we were considered ‘safe’ and not been placed on an evacuation order. Areas around us were not so lucky as hundreds of families were asked to flee their homes and pack their most important belongings. SafeHaven knew we had to help. We began immediately sending donations and staff members to Linn County Fairgrounds to help with those displaced. SafeHaven also began accepting pets of those displaced due to the wildfires and, in the end, was able to house over 50 animals. This included having an emergency evacuation plan for not only SafeHaven pets, but also those in our care temporarily. Our staff was prepared for anything which, fortunately, everyone was used to from working in a shelter environment. SafeHaven also staffed the shelter 24 hours a day in case someone needed to evacuate in the middle of the night. But we could not have done it without you. Once our community caught the news that we were able to help in this capacity, donations began coming in to the shelter in the form of online donations, but also people dropping off much needed supplies. We were happy to report that after a few days, we were running out of space to store donations. Our hearts and our shelter were, quite literally, full!
THE PLACE TO BE, A-PARROT-LY SafeHaven was also excited and honored to partner with Exotic Bird Rescue of Oregon to temporarily house a few unique visitors during this tumultuous time. SafeHaven typically does not have the resources to care for exotic birds but, with the assistance from Exotic Bird Rescue, we were able to help 8 birds. These beauties were displaced from Santa Clara (Eugene). The African Grey is the only survivor in his flock of three that had to escape the fires in a shoe box clutched by his owner. After several weeks at SafeHaven, these birds along with the other displaced animals all were happily reunited with their owners. SafeHaven is forever grateful to be able to help!
