Wildfires continue to ravage drought stricken Texas in one of the most devastating outbreaks in Texas history. Over 1000 homes have been burned to the ground leaving families and their animals homeless. VCA Animal Hospitals have graciously offered to help by boarding pets effected by the wildfire’s destruction. Below is a listing of participating vet hospitals for those of you who reside or have family members living in Texas who affected by the raging wildfires. Thank you VCA!!!!! You are Texas sized angels!

If you are advised to evacuate please do so. Don’t leave your animals behind if you can at all help it, they most likely can not survive on their own. For the rest of us, this is a good reminder to have a disaster readiness plan for our families and pets in the event of an emergency. Do you know what you would do?

VCA ANIMAL HOSPITALS OFFER FREE BOARDING FOR PETS
AFFECTED BY TEXAS WILDFIRES

To help those affected by the fires in Texas, VCA Animal Hospitals today announced that VCA facilities located in the areas surrounding both Austin and Houston are offering free boarding assistance for companion animals whose families have lost homes or have been evacuated. “For residents affected by these devastating wildfires, VCA is continuing to assist them by providing free pet boarding so they focus on the safety and welfare of their families and homes,” said Art Antin, Chief Operating Officer of VCA Animal Hospitals. “During this difficult time, families can keep their pets safe and comfortable with VCA’s free boarding offer.”

VCA Animal Hospitals located in and around Austin and Houston can provide safety and security for affected family pets on a space available basis as long as firestorms persist. The following VCA hospitals are participating in the free boarding program:

Boarding assistance for pets is based on space availability at participating hospitals and owners can call their local VCA in advance to ensure that the facility has space available to accept additional pets. Contact information for the participating VCA Animal Hospitals near the wildfires can be obtained at www.vcahospitals.com.

About VCA Animal Hospitals

VCA Animal Hospitals operates more than 530 animal hospitals in 41 states across the nation in the VCA network. The hospitals are staffed by more than 2,000 fully qualified, dedicated and compassionate veterinarians and more than 200 board-certified specialists. VCA Animal Hospitals provide a full range of general medical and surgical services as well as specialized treatments. For more information on VCA Animal Hospitals, visit www.VCAHospitals.com, or find VCA on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/VCAAnimalHospitals or on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/VCAPetHealth.

Here is the link to the the Texas Forest Service for more information on fires in your area. There are a few names and numbers of ranches that have available boarding for horses floating around on facebook as well. If you know of anyone that can help, please feel free to post the information in the comments section.

Photograph by L.M. Otero, AP