From "Frantic search for pets underway as Colorado takes stock of fire devastation/After a half-day search effort, 40 dogs that were staying at a boarding facility in Superior, Colo., when the flames erupted were accounted for" (WaPo). To underscore what's in the headline: All the dogs were found.
Imagine having responsibility for so many animals and attempting to get as many as possible into your car — in some way that would make it possible to undertake a stressful drive — and deciding that's all you're going to put in the car and that the best you can do for the rest is to leave their cages open. There were 40 dogs, and the owner got 12 of them into her car, so 28 dogs were left to fend for themselves as the fire blew in. They all survived.
ADDED: If you had 40 dogs, 1 car, and only a few minutes to load dogs into your car, how would you choose which dogs to go in first and at what point would you stop loading based on the situation in the car? Let's presume the fire isn't so close that you have to stop what you're doing and drive because of imminent burning and smoke.
Strategy #1: First, unlock all the cages, then call the dogs out to the car and encourage them to jump in, so that you're choosing based on their readiness to get in the car and ride and their cooperativeness. Observe the behavior in the car (remove "bad" dogs?) and keep going until the dogs indicate that they can't tolerate more crowding.
Strategy #2: Take the smallest dogs and put them in the car, because you can get more of them in and they'd probably be most vulnerable if left on their own.
Strategy #3: Take the dogs you've observed to be the "best" dogs — cooperative, friendly, cute, beloved of their owners, etc. — and whose owners have been the best customers.
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small dogs first
Dog Tetris.
Regular fire drills would help.
How do dogs behave when they're crammed in a tight space with other dogs? Does a fight break out? Imagine evacuating in your car and looking over and seeing, in the next car, a woman driving with 12 dogs swirling around in the driver's compartment. Are they barking? Snarling? Biting? All trying to get on her lap? Snapping at her?! At what point would she open the door and let a bunch of them jump out, as they obviously would. What if she causes an accident? Was she negligent, driving with all those dogs?
First shove a bunch of small ones in the trunk and close lid. Then summon the rest and take all that willingly jump in. You could get a lot of dogs that way. Either that or just take the ones you like... .
One hand for the man.
One hand for the ship.
Apply as needed.
I guess I'm envisioning an SUV. I'd stuff small dogs in any of the areas with seats and large dogs in the back area that has more headroom. I worry that if they were mixed, the small dogs might get trampled and squished to death by the large dogs. Truly, what a horrible decision.
Strategy #2–I’m a big dog guy, but this is how you save the most dogs. I’d keep stuffing them in until it becomes a safety issue—which would be a tough call. Discomfort is tough beans, but if they melt down into a battle royal, then I’m not helping anybody.
41 dogs.
One small dog in the center console.
Two in the glove box.
Two more in the drink holders.
If you don’t place the small digs strategically, the big dogs won’t fit.
Which ones go in the car?
Puppies, old dogs, dogs with health issues, dogs with less than 3 legs, dogs that could be carried by a hawk, the dogs that have already been out to poop this morning.
I'm a dog lover and I cannot say how I would have acted in that circumstance. Strategies go out the window when it's respond on a moment's notice. You will make a quick plan in your head and move on it immediately, no second thoughts. But you react to what's happening right then and there.
Given time to think about it, I definitely would have opened all the cages first. From there, I'd cram as many into the car as I could and chase the rest out of the building. In a frantic situation you would not take the time to separate by size or temperament. You would just move quickly. If I was in that situation and had 12 dogs snugged into my car, you can believe I'd have control over them. They would NOT misbehave. Dogs will typically follow the leader, the Alpha. In this case, you'd have to be a strong Alpha.
PS- the cats (if there were any) would have to be sacrificed. :) Just kidding.
From Fernandinande's link to the kennel's website:
"Thanks to our wonderful staff and community, all 41 dogs that were boarding with us at the time of the fire were evacuated safely."
I guess you've got to put the best face on this on your own website, but equating evacuation with "shooing them out the door" is some very high octane spin.
First, black dogs, then brown dogs, leave the white dogs behind.
OK, not really. Small dogs in order to maximize number that escape, thereby reducing the number of dogs to be searched for later.
Second, try to leave behind the ones that have the better chance of survival, say a Husky vs. Lhasa Apso.
It's one of those situations where you cram as many dogs in the car as possible, you deal with the problems (fighting and commotion) as it happens. Same with any rescue.
The owner did well considering the situation.
Imagine trying to keep the dogs that were already in the car from jumping back out while you were trying to get another dog in.
I'm thinking they must have put the individual dogs in crates and put the crates in the car, in which case it would have been the small ones.
Take the fluffy ones. They're the most flammable. Leave any wet dogs. They'll be fine.
In fact, it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and hose down all the leavers last thing before you go.
The key to an emergency response is to trust your instincts and act deliberately while staying calm.
To lose one dog may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose 40 looks like carelessness.
I’ve always been paranoid about fire- we have a lot of animals in our barn and I’ve seen lots of barn fires. It’s something I’ve tried to imagine- how would we get everyone out, would they go out? Cows are huge. In one local fire a cow collapsed in the doorway. Dogs are wiser than cows- this woman acted amazingly.
Youngest and oldest- and then smallest. That’s who would ride in the car. Idk if the article says this woman was by herself- it would be a lot easier w/another person opening and shutting the doors on the car. Smoke is a panic button- at least for me. Heating w/a wood stove, predominantly-I’ve gotten better at controlling my instincts clinging to the ganglia kicking around the back of my head, somewhere…
I absolutely hate the modern journalistic convention that any search must be referred to as “frantic,” especially when (perhaps unlike the present example) the search is a methodical professional one by cops and/or firemen. It’s a cliché. It’s lazy writing with emotional additives that detract from the actual story. The same can be said about the verb “stuffed” which is apparently the only acceptable way to describe a dead body in a trunk.
As an owner of a beloved Chihuahua, the answer is obvious. Take the Chihuahuas, and go up from there. Larger dogs can run faster anyway.
Howard is correct. What he describes is the opposite of “frantic” as flung at the reader in the headline. It’s dishonest emotionally loaded journ-O-lism.
The optimal strategy depends on what you think will happen to the dogs you choose to leave behind. In this instance, it is reported that they all made it. “Thanks to our wonderful staff and community, all 41 dogs that were boarding with us at the time of the fire were evacuated safely.” So taking the twelve dogs that you judged might have the most trouble on their own by virtue of health, age, temperament, etc. might have been most optimal. But let’s say you didn’t expect the dogs left behind to make it. The Romney strategy, strapping several dog crates to the roof of the vehicle, would have gotten more dogs out.
"The Romney strategy" I love it.
Strategy #4 - Take the most important dogs first (ones you like and/or have an important relationship with the owner), unlock all the cages and observe what the dogs do, take the ones that seem the most vulnerable starting with the smallest.
I imagine the dogs in the car would be like dogs in the dog part, mostly friendly since they are not defending their own territory or their owner.
I would take the hot dogs first, because is you did get caught in a fire, they would be the most delicious...
“Given time to think about it, I definitely would have opened all the cages first. From there, I'd cram as many into the car as I could and chase the rest out of the building. In a frantic situation you would not take the time to separate by size or temperament. You would just move quickly.”
You let the ones who you can’t put in the car just run. That probably means filling the car with the small ones, because they don’t run as fast. Dogs, and their wolf ancestors, have survived wildfires for eons. If you leave them in the house or the kennel, and the fire gets the building, they are all dead. But they probably have a decent chance of survival, if left to their own devices. And if they have tags, you will probably get them back in th end.
I say this after living in a part of the country half the year where wildfires are common. Most of the larger animals survive wildfires. Much higher percentage than the smaller ones. Bears and wolves survive more frequently than do squirrels and rabbits. But in the end, that works out, because the squirrels and rabbits breed much more quickly.
Muzzles. There's no way to know how a dog is going to react. Per my dogs, I advise fire trucks or at least police sirens. I've seen troubled dogs decide they're part a bigger dog pack that way. Helicopters work too, but they're probably needed elsewhere. One coyote girl in heat could probably save hundreds of male dogs.
Or just smear rococean, who mocked my brother's recent horrific death, with tuna and let the dogs have at him. Thanks to the person who pointed that out to me. Am I better or worse off for having read it?
I do know I am more motivated.
It reminds me of the story of the Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse, where there was a black C*cker Spaniel, Tubby, in a lone car on the bridge. Three different men risked their lives to try to rescue the dog, and all failed, the last man got the car door open but the terrified dog bit him and he had to flee without the dog and he got off the bridge with seconds to spare before the collapse. Tubby was never found.
Glad to hear all the dogs survived. Can of Cheese for Hunter can feel much better now. :)
We have a small/medium sized dog who is very anxious and generally not good at all around people (other than our immediate family) and other dogs. I think that sociability would need to be the first criterion. In any situation but especially a crisis safety would be paramount, and so you can’t have dogs barking incessantly or fighting while your trying to drive to safety. My dog wold most likely cause those safety issues (although when truly frightened—like last night’s storms—rather than stressed he tends to be more compliant).
I would put puppies and the oldest dogs in the car, and let the rest run free to save themselves as best they could. There would be no cats in the car who aren't kittens or very old. However, I am not going to risk my life to save a pet- that is just foolishness.
“The Romney Strategy”…. I guess if any dogs didn’t make it out you could then implement “The Obama Strategy”???
Thankfully, her battery was at full charge!
Small dogs first, for maximum canine/sq ft. Also, smallest dogs may be least likely to survive on their own. For a certainty I would pile in as many dogs as could fit and still breathe; they can be scared and packed in like sardines for the short time it would take to reach safe ground.
"If you had 40 dogs, 1 car, and only a few minutes to load dogs into your car, how would you choose which dogs to go in first and at what point would you stop loading based on the situation in the car? "
I'd pop open all the cages and say "hop in the car!"
And let them keep on filling until everything but the driver's seat was full.
OTOH, the owner of the kennel has probably been interacting with all the dogs, knows which are best behaved, knows which she likes the most.
And, as you pointed out, knows which owners are the best customers, and which the biggest pains in the backside. So I would guess the owner did scenario 3
CWJ said...
"Thanks to our wonderful staff and community, all 41 dogs that were boarding with us at the time of the fire were evacuated safely."
I guess you've got to put the best face on this on your own website, but equating evacuation with "shooing them out the door" is some very high octane spin.
The own evacuated the dogs safely from the kennel (and that really matters. If they weren't let out, they'd be dead).
The owner evacuated 12 dogs safely from the fire area.
The rest of the dogs, having been given the help of being let out of their cages, evacuated themselves.
Now, I expect the owner is going to be having some intense conversations with the owners of the 28 dogs left to fend for themselves. But, credit where credit's due: all the dogs survived, and I'm pretty sure you have to score that as a success by the owner
Info from Facebook:
Thursday December 30: We had 40 dogs boarding today. So far we have accounted for 34 of the 40 dogs we had boarding. I have contacted or tried to contact every owner of the missing dogs. Our owner is also missing her dog Higgins. Their names and descriptions are:
DEXTER (~ 35 lb Goldendoodle)
GRACIE (~75 lb tan & white English Shepherd)
GUNNER (~ 75 lb sable English Shepherd)
POPPY (~ 5 lb grey/white Teacup Aussie)
SNOWBALL (~ 20 lb white Westie)
JEDI (~75 lb sable Cattle Dog/Heeler mix)
HIGGINS (~40 lb tan wire-haired mix) - this is our owner Donelle's dog.
Friday, December 31 at 3:38am: Dexter, Snowball, Higgins, Poppy, Grace & Gunner have all been located and are safe! Jedi has been spotted but is very shy and we are working on getting him caught. Thank you everyone for your kind wishes ❤️
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