DULZURA - Bryant Hibbs, who has lived in the Jamul and Dulzura area
since 1976, helped a neighbor bury a horse Thursday that died the night
before.
Hibbs, who lost a storage ship filled with tools in the fires that burned
through Monday, used his small John Deere tractor to drag the horse out of the
barn and into a grave dug by another neighbor.
He covered the large animal with dirt and some of the ash from the flames
that likely contributed to its death.
"I said a little prayer," Hibbs said. "I told God to take it. It's in his
hands now."
Yvonne Purdy-Luxton, who owns the property east of Community Building
Road with her uncles, said the horse, named Easy, was 28, and she wasn't sure
exactly why she died.
"I think it was smoke inhalation, but I'm not sure," she said. "She could
have died from the stress of the fires or of a heart attack."
Purdy-Luxton lost her home in the fire, the one she shared with her
16-year-old daughter. She said having eight of nine horses, 36 of 37 chickens,
and two of three homes survive on the property, "is great."
"I left with two pairs of jeans, some shirts, and a business suit," she
said. "Fortunately I keep legal documents, my jewelry and photos in backpacks.
I still lost a lot of old family stuff like pictures of my great-grandparents
and some antiques."
Purdy-Luxton said she was sad that Easy died, but she had other horses to
worry about. Several were coughing loudly and deeply.
- Janine Zuniga
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Neighbor helps bury horse
Posted @ 3:43 PM
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5 comments:
And why weren't these animals evacuated too? And where is the vet? They need immediate attention. The 'oh well' attitude just gets me. When you have animals, they depend on you 100% for their safety and well being. If you cannot provide this, then you don't deserve their love and companionship.
They inteviewed a woman from Poway that had her house burn. She was laughing that they grabbed a 2 y/o box of baklava. Their cat died in the fire. Why didn't they rescue their cat? Apparently it was worth less than a 2 y/o box of stale dessert.
Just incomprehensible to me.
I totally agree with all you said.
There needs to be a law passed that if you own livestock you must be registered with Animal Services-
microchipped- with IT ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY TO OWN A TRAILER and TRUCK with proof of insurance to get these animals out
in case of an emergency- I totally agree with you and it pisses me off
royally- I wonder how they would feel faced with burning to death-The second you see smoke or are ordered with a Voluntary evacuation - it means get your animals out NOW- Mandatory means you have three minutes period- These people should be fined and be prohibited from owning any other animals- There is NO excuse for this kind of
neglect- it's inhumane- I grew up on a ranch with trailer- trucks and disaster evacuation in place-
ANIMALS FIRST PEOPLE- ALWAYS- I know that horse died of heart failure from horrendous fear and
suffocation and shock- the kitty
no doubt died similarly- Nice going
people- you should be real proud
of yourselves- Hope the suit and the box of food that you grabbed was worth their humble little lives-
I own several horses and the best thing you can sometimes do in a wildfire is turn them loose. You very rarely hear of animals who are free being killed in a firestorm. They will find safety on their own, its only when we keep them in barns, paddocks and homes that we endanger them.
I just read this article. My own Jesus heart has to ask what the circumstances were at the time that this family was evacuated. In a perfect world I know that all of the things the others posted about animal care is true (from having trailers to microchipping, etc). Without knowing what the circumstances were/are I know that I can't begin to judge what happened when this particualar family had to leave their home.
I know that as I was watching the news on Monday there were families that had trailers who still had to let their animals loose because the traffic was so bad they couldn't get their animals out in trailers. I saw as one family tagged their animals with their cell phone numbers, set them loose and prayed that if someone found them later they would call them to let them know if/that their animals were safe. I had a friend tell me that he saw a man come up to the end of the evacuation line with his horse in his trailer and because the back up was so bad he pulled his horse out and rode him to the front of the line where someone else who had space in their trailer allowed him to trailer his horse with this strangers. This man was fortunate to be by himself with only one horse. What would have happened if there had been more?
Rather than judging, I know that friends and family from my congregation are headed into the Dulzura area to see how they can be of help to people that have lost their homes, who might not have had insurance because the Insurance Companies refused to insure properties and homes in the Dulzura area after the Cedar fires, and to bring a sense of hope, uplifting and encouragement to this community.
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