How to help cats within the fire area
The Jackson County Animal Shelter is asking that the public consider leaving healthy, un-injured cats that they locate in the fire affected areas on site instead of bringing them to the shelter.
Please read how to help these cats below.
Although the Jackson County Animal Shelter will accept these cats, the Oregon Department of Agriculture recommends feeding these cats in place and documenting their location as the best way to ensure that owned displaced animals can be reunited with their owner. The shelter does not accept feral/community cats unless they are injured or suffering from illness.
The Shelter is also not accepting stray or owned cats from outside the fire areas at this time. Our capacity to provide care for stray cats is limited, and we already have approximately 140 cats (including kittens that were already in care) in foster care. While it may be possible to get additional foster resources, we will quickly exceed our capacity without careful management of intake.
We are also anticipating the need to take over care for some of the injured cats that are currently being treated at Southern Oregon Veterinary Specialty Center (SOVSC) as their care becomes manageable outside the hospital setting. At this point, other clinics have reached out to provide support to SOVSC, but the resources of all involved are seriously strained and cannot support caring for large numbers of healthy, stray animals.
How to help cats within the fire area:
Our recommendation is for those that are willing to care for found cats to immediately report them to Jackson County Animal Services using our dedicated email address . This option allows the finder to attach a photo that staff can use to try to match lost reports. There are also numerous other social media pages for reports.
- Click here to report a lost animal
- Click here to view all known fire related social media pages
Trapping update:
Jackson Animal Shelter officers are not able to provide assistance with trapping of owned animals and the shelter does not currently have traps that can be borrowed for this purpose. There are several local sources where people can purchase live traps and our staff are happy to provide advice and resources for those seeking to trap their own pets.
Deceased animals:
If residents locate a deceased animal in the fire areas, they can call Jackson County Animal Services for pickup. Our officers will scan all remains for a microchip and will catalog where the animal was found. We will also make an effort to match any information to lost reports in our system. Unfortunately, due to the condition of the remains, we will be unable to offer residents the opportunity to view deceased animals.
Contacting the Jackson County Animal Shelter:
- JCAS now has access to their phones
- Phone: 541-774-6654
- Address: 5595 S. Pacific Hwy. Phoenix, OR
- Hours: TUE – FRI 11A – 4P // SAT & SUN 12N – 4P
