GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) – In the emergency evacuations ahead of fast-spreading wildfires out of the Great Smoky Mountains last week, scores of pets were separated from their owners.
The Humane Society of Sevier County had to evacuate its own building, sending its animals to nearby shelters in eastern Tennessee and North Carolina. The day after the fires, officials got to work setting up a temporary shelter in a barn at the county’s fairgrounds.
“We knew when we evacuated our building that there was still animals that were going to be homeless,” board member Cheryl Morgan said. “I had a contact here at the fairgrounds, and he said: ‘Whatever you need.'”
About 150 dogs and cats have been taken in, some of them badly burned. About 50 more are being kept on behalf of owners forced from their homes. About 40 lost pets have been matched with their owners, and the shelter is posting photos of found animals on social media in hopes they will be able to reunite more of them.
“The outpouring of the support of volunteers, in-kind donations and financial donations has been incredible from across the country,” Morgan said.