Hitting close to home

Submitted by Janell Matthies, UAN Emergency Services Manager

We are wrapping things up today, but I wanted to share one story that has touched all of us EARS volunteers and Santa Barbara Humane Society (SBHS) staff members.

A local EARS volunteer named Nancy (pictured) lost everything in this fire. She came by the temporary shelter on Saturday to drop off her dogs. I made sure she knew we were available for anything: supplies, manpower, moral support. I suggested that many of the EARS volunteers would be happy to come out to her property to help her clean up once their animal sheltering duties are done. The EARS volunteers were very supportive of this, but Nancy was still coming to terms with things.

Nancy runs a wildlife rescue out of her home and has multiple personal pets. Yesterday she came by to ask if she could buy a couple of crates. I told her to bring her truck around. All of the volunteers stopped what they were doing, hugged her and began loading crates, bowls, food, shavings and whatever else she might need into her truck. She cried, we cried. SBHS staff found out about it and they cried, too.

There are many other stories from our time here that have brought us to tears, and even laughter. I will post a few more soon...