May 22, 2008 THE SUMMIT FIRE Santa Cruz Mountains. - 3,000 ACRES BURNING -It began around 5: Am this morning and now, at 8:15 PM the situation is reported as a "fluid, dangerous" situation. The fire is spreading and evacuations are occurring - Many animals have been lost, or have had to evacuate with their families who now hove no place to go temporarily.

Over 1,400 residents have been forced out, including several from one of our own Rabbit Haven foster center. They evacuated early this afternoon, moving horses, rabbits and all animals out of harms way. Many families hardest hit did not have power so they had no way to access this information - Hopefully tonight, with several evacuation centers open they can utilize the internet to secure resources they will need while they wait for the fire danger to subside and to find new housing in some cases. The Haven has taken calls from the community throughout the day helping as best we could and providing assistance. We also worked to set up additional spaces for the animals coming in.

With hundreds of animals already in the system plus a new group of evacuated animals today, The Rabbit Haven organized a plan for small animals that need evacuation and temporary housing. We have created additional temporary space for rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters other small animals and birds within our network of rescue and volunteer groups. More help will be needed so call if you can help.

The Watsonville Fairgrounds has taken in over 200 evacuated horses and the Santa Cruz County Horseman's Association is opening for overflow and new horses that need immediate evacuation. You can contact then at 831 818-2848 ask for Christy. The facility is at 1145 Graham Hill Rd - Call first.

The shelters are bracing for the overflow and they are already full. According to a shelter representative we spoke with today, Marin County shelter agreed to take in all the adoptable dogs to make room for incoming lost or evacuated dogs. We were told that the shelter is expecting the small animals to go to Watsonville shelter first then filter in to the SV shelter as needed. We will be working with both shelter rabbit advocates and the community directly to provide additional shelter support for the victims of this fire.

You can help if you are located out of the fire zone. If you have an extra enclosure to help out one of these rabbits please call and let us know.

VCA has agreed to care for 6-8 cages of rabbits. VCA has been very helpful in the past during emergencies. The VCA, located in a safe zone, is willing to help. You can contact them at 831-427-3345. They are located on Mission Street in Santa Cruz. As more vet offices become available to help, we will post their numbers. Several individual rabbit caretakers have stepped forward to help out temporarily any rabbit that needed immediate evacuation. We need more. If you can help provide a place for even one fire refugee, Call us at 831 239-7119. Members of the community needing help may call us for info about where to take their evacuated animal companion.

Space for approximatly ten rabbits plus other small animals like rats, mice and hamsters needing housing has been offered by North Star Small Animal Rescue. Small birds have two spots plus we have asked Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue, another large bird rescue group, to take care of the larger exotic birds during the evacuation period.

Please send your good wishes to the community so deeply harmed by these fires. We are grateful that we can offer this support so they will not have to worry about their animal companions while the go through this.

Lost animals: Please send a photo of your bird, rabbit or other small animal that is currently lost and we will post to assure that your rabbit can be identified if they are found by animal control or any of our rescue teams.

If you'd like to help please contact us immediately at director@therabbithaven.org. or call 831 239-7119. If you are a member of the community and want to donate or help others look for their lost rabbits please let us know. Check us on line for our donation link. You can help us purchase supplies we will need.

You can find up to date news about the fires on the ABC news website.

Here are the official evacuation numbers provided today by the media:
831 335-5355
831 335-6717
831-335-6718
831-335-6719
831-438-0211 Fire Department main number
California Fire CDF Evac hotline 408 201-0474