Amy_Murphy's Blog

A heartbreaking story Thursday...the Animal Friends of the Valley Animal Shelter in Lake Elsinore had a devastating fire. It killed 24 small dogs and 15 cats , through no apparent fault of anyone at the shelter.

The initial inspection revealed an electrical problem in the wall of the mobile home that was used as the "puppy building".

Many of these animals were strays, abandoned or surrendered by their owners.

When people surrender animals to shelters often times the owner can't care for the pet any longer (as in the case of some elderly pet owners ) or other life circumstances (illness) suddenly prevent the owner from giving the pet a good home. The owner surrenders the animal ,hoping someone else will pick up where they left off and love them as they did.

However, the heartbroken Co-founder of this shelter told me of an absolutely inexcusable
surrender...one that happened just the day before the fire and resulted in this pet's death.

Co-Founder, Willa Bagwell told me the story...Willa opened her heart and shelter to a small dog that a woman dropped off on Wednesday. This dog was one of the 24 who expired Thursday in the fire.
The dog's owner is actually the woman's husband . Apparently he showed up the morning  of the fire and collapsed when he learned that his dog died in the fire.

The man explained that he and his wife are in the middle of a divorce. His soon to be EX...decided to drop off HIS dog at "the pound", without his permission, while keeping her dog. He showed up to get the dog back...just a few hours too late.

Even if things are acrimonious  or you can't stand each other anymore.
This is unforgivable.  Can you imagine anything more cruel?

In the meantime ...Willa Bagwell says the shelter rescued 8,000 animals last year.
And because she rescued almost 300 animals specifically during the fires, the City of Temecula honored her as Citizen of the Year, just last weekend.

She and the other shelter employees were devastated by the loss of those animals.
They are in desperate need of a new facility and are looking for donations. If you have some extra cash or some extra time -log on to their website and see how you can help.
http://www.animalfriendsofthevalleys.com/

Willa Bagwell and the other volunteers have been rescuing animals in Riverside County for 20 years.   I hope they continue. We need more people in this world like you!