'We'll Come Back For You': US Fires Split Families, Pets

Chico, United States, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Nov, 2018 ) :Steve Cox pets and cuddles Ernie, his 10-year-old English bulldog, before leaving him at a shelter.

Cox lost his home in California's devastating wildfires, and now they have to part.

"Don't you worry Ernie. I am not gonna let you down. We'll come back for you," Cox whispers.

He has been staying at a hotel but it doesn't take pets. For a week, Cox tried to take care of Ernie in the back of his pickup truck.

But now, as Cox tries to get his life back on track, he thinks Ernie would get better care at one of three animal shelters in northern California's Paradise area where the so-called Camp Fire has claimed 76 lives and left more than 1,000 unaccounted for.

In this rural area, which had many horses, one shelter is for large animals.

Then there are two small facilities where helpers are working with dogs, cats, chickens, rabbits, turtles and even swans.

Ernie is walking with a bit of trouble after an operation on an abscess in one of his front legs. Cox says the dog is lazy, though, so he thinks Ernie will adapt quickly to the separation by sleeping a lot.

The main shelter was set up in the city of Chico's airport, near Paradise, where rescue and firefighting operations have been based.

Animals saved by firefighters are dropped off there to be cared for.