Fire Update From Anna and Rich:

Well, things here in Redding are settling down. The fires are still burning, but no longer a threat to us. Merrian and Rick still have a home, and were able to go back on Thursday evening. All of their “kids” are safe and no longer stressed. They are glad to be home. We certainly thank all of you for all of your support during this crisis. Your financial help was and is much appreciated as well as your kind words and good thoughts.

While the threat from these fires has passed for now, it has taught us to be working towards a plan if it were to happen again, and we were forced to leave our home. We were evacuated in 1999, but we only had 11 dogs and were able to get them out safely. It is much different now with 30-35 dogs, and it’s very necessary that we know what we would do should the need arise. We certainly wouldn’t want to leave anyone behind so we will work towards getting a trailer to be able to move all the dogs. We have enough crates for everyone now, but we need a trailer to put them in. If any of you know of anyone with a trailer to donate or sell at a reasonable price, please let us know.

Now we have some more news. Merrian and Rick hope to move to Redding by the first of next year. This will make things so much easier for all of us to have all the dogs close to each other so we can help each other with their care. Anyone coming to visit our “kids” will be able to see all of the dogs together-or at least very close to each other. We are really looking forward to their move and having some great new neighbors here in Redding. They are a huge part of our extended Shar Pei “family”.

Thanks again for your continuing support.

Anna and Rich

From Anna and Rich: We just want to update everyone on the fire situation here in Redding. At this time the rescue and our house is not threatened. However, Merrian and Rick Black, who foster our sanctuary dogs were evacuated from their home on Tuesday. They managed to get all of their dogs and our sanctuary dogs here to Redding. They were also called by a neighbor to see if they could get the neighbor’s eight Chihuahuas out of their home. For those of you who are not aware, once a mandatory evacuation is declared, the roads are only open to outgoing traffic. If you happen to be away from your home when the evacuation is called, you cannot go back in, even to get your animals. Merrian was able to also get the Chihuahuas and all her dogs and come to Redding in the middle of the night when it was cooler to travel. They arrived here with 26 dogs to be taken care of. Fortunately, we had a place they could stay and keep the dogs safely, but most of the dogs have to live in crates and be rotated for food and walks. Please keep in mind that the temperatures have been in the triple digits here for the last few days (111-115). There is some relief in sight next week. As I write this, we don’t know when Merrian and Rick will be allowed to go home or even if there is a home to go to. People who have lived in Redding for many years say there has never been a time this bad in terms of the number of fires that surround us or how long it is taking to get them under control. We can only hope that things get better.

I am writing this because even when this is over we need to have a plan to evacuate our 30+ dogs at a moment’s notice. We will need more wire crates to keep on hand to take with us. We have some, but sure could use more. Right now, we could us portable kennels to keep the dogs at Merrian’s a little more comfortable and give them a little more room. We will also need those if this happens to any of us again. If you have anything you could donate, you can click under any dog on our webpage, where it says “Click to Sponsor” and your donation will be used for our immediate needs. We could sure use your help. If you prefer to send a check it can be mailed to:

California Shar Pei Rescue
P.O. Box 492404 - Redding, CA 96049-2404

As always, your donations are tax deductible, and we will send you a letter acknowledging them for tax purposes. We understand that this is a tough time for a lot of people for many reasons, and really appreciate any help.

Due to the fire situation here in Redding, we will be closed to incoming dogs until further notice. We are sorry to have to do this, but until things settle down here, we just need to take care of the dogs already in our care.These fires were started almost a month ago and none are contained. Our firefighters are tired and stretched thin. Please keep us in your thoughts.

Anna and Rich