Emergency teams enter evacuated Fort McMurray to rescue the pets that were left behind

Local authorites combine with grass roots groups to bring the animals to safety and find their owners

Home foundations are nearly all that remain in a residential neighborhood in Fort McMurray, destroyed by the wildfire in Alberta, Canada (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Days after the vast wildfire still raging in the Canadian province of Alberta forced the evacuation of the human population from the city of Fort McMurray, local authorities are now launching an urgent operation to rescue household pets that were left behind.

While some families were able to grab their animal friends when the evacuation was ordered early last week and take them to safety - some commercial air carriers have been praised for allowing dogs and cats to fly coach with their owners - scores of others weren’t so lucky.

The regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, which oversees the city, said at the weekend that it was sending emergency workers into the devastated city, much of which has now been obliterated, to try to locate abandoned animals. With the help of grassroots volunteers, the teams will then try to contact owners, many of whom may now be hundreds of miles away.

Among those drafted to join the pet rescue teams is Kevin Wonitowy, a locksmith, who will be on hand to break into homes that may be locked with animals still inside. Mr Wonitowy said he anticipated working for the next several days as workers scoured through neighborhoods of a city that was home to 88,000 people.

Scores of volunteers and worried owners have already been trying to get back into Fort McMurray, some claiming they received permission, though it isn’t always clear that that is the case. On Friday, two volunteers were arrested by police for being in the city without a permit. One resident, Bryan Jones, reported rescuing 27 dogs and cats on Thursday with a friend.

Other groups, like one organised by Angel Rowe of Leduc, Alberta, south of Edmonton, which lies to the south, have sent convoys of concerned helpers to set up camp near the city’s edge, in hopes of giving temporary shelter to rescued animals then arranging reunions with owners.

As well as cats and dogs, distressed evacuees have reported having left a variety of other pet species behind in the smoldering municipality.

“We’re hearing about lots of dogs and cats, but also one guy has 32 geckos that need rescue,” Shannon Orell-Bast, who launched a Fort McMurray pet rescue page on Facebook, told the Globe and Mail newspaper. “There are hamster, birds, snakes, parrots – you name it.” A crowd-source map that has also been set up to help coordinate the operation also identifies dwarf boa constrictors, ball pythons and a bearded dragon lizard named Spike.

The fire, which began last Sunday near the city, which is on the edge of Alberta’s oil-producing tar sands region, has already consumed some 250,000 acres and has been called the worst natural disaster in Canada’s history.

Although cooler weather has moved in, it may be weeks before the inferno is completely contained and attempts can be made to repopulate Fort McMurray. “Within the community itself I expect over the next coming month or two that they're going to be able to get a very good handle on the fire situation,“ Alberta wildfire prevention chief Chad Morrison commented.

The applause for airlines like WestJet and Canadian North has been stoked by social media pictures of dogs in economy seats with their owners. Canadian North Flight 1515 to Edmonton lats Tuesday carried 19 dogs, five cats (including one named “Meow Meow”) and two turtles, all in the passengers cabin.

Among those desperate last week for news of a pet was Louise Cruz who got her puppy, a Yorkie-Chihuahua cross, for her 14th birthday. “I’ve been thinking of him from the moment the fire started,” Ms Cruz, who fled to an Edmonton-area hotel with her family, told the Globe and Mail. “He’s only eight months old.”

But their story has a happy ending. She received a phone call on Friday saying Atlas had been found and was expecting to be reunited with him this weekend.