Carmel Magazine

The SPCA of Monterey County rescued, sheltered, evacuated and cared for 1,424 animals during local fire evacuations from Salinas, Carmel and Big Sur. These dogs were reunited with their owners after emergency boarding. vehicle photos to the organization's Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Beth Brookhouser. "I could just make out that it was a plumbing van, and I could faintly make out the logo, but I couldn't see anything else," says Brookhouser. She did some online sleuthing and tracked down the plumber, who put her in touch with Nicholson. Bubs, the family's 4-month-old kitten, had badly burned feet and was being treated by SPCA veterinarians. Mango, an older cat, survived the blaze without seri- ous injury. When Nicholson visited her property several days after the fire, she heard another cat crying. "I couldn't quite find where she was, and I had a broken leg, so it was hard for me to move around the rubble. But then she stuck her head out and limped towards me with her little foot all bent over. Oh my gosh, did I cry when I saw her," says Nicholson. Griz was dehydrated after 10 days on her own, and she had mild burns on her feet. The SPCA took her in for treatment beside the Nicholson's other two cats. While the family ulti- mately lost Bubs' brother, Grubs, to the fire, they welcomed the remaining three cats back into their temporary Carmel home a few weeks later. Bubs wore bandages as his wounds healed, but that didn't stop him from swatting at fish that flashed across the screen of Nicholson's phone. "The SPCA team got him into that game, and it's so sweet. While he was getting treated, someone there took him home every weekend because his bandages needed changing so fre- quently," says Nicholson. She praises a long list of fire crews, local organizations and community members for pro- viding assistance after the blaze—from Happy Girl Kitchen, which delivered fresh, organic food to fire victims, to the Rotary members who assembled relief packages, to the friends who launched a GoFundMe campaign for the Nicholson family. The SPCA, however, occupies a special place on that list. "They were so accommodating and fantastic, saying, 'Don't worry. We're going to look after the cats. We'll keep them for as long as you need.' They provided all that care for free. I can't imagine how expensive treatments would have been if I'd had to take the cats to a vet, especially with the burn work that they did," says Nicholson. "All that love and care and support the SPCA gave the cats and my family is just absolutely amazing. I would hope that people will see the value of what they do and donate." The local SPCA was setting service records in early 2020, before a pandemic and three wildfires swept across Monterey County. In early March, as organizers wrapped up the annual SPCA telethon, COVID-19 shifted the organiza- tion's focus. 122 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 1 Photo: Courtesy of SPCA Monterey County The organization expected pandemic-related job cuts and economic uncertainty to trigger an influx in homeless animals.

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