A litter of Rottweiler puppies and their mother were saved from a fiery death in the Park fire thanks to a determined member of the Butte County Sheriff’s Office, officials said.
The rescue is one of the few silver linings to the Park fire in Northern California. The blaze had burned almost 390,000 acres as of Wednesday morning and was still only 18% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The dogs, two adult Rottweilers and their four puppies, were left in a truck that had broken down on the side of the road, left behind by residents who were evacuating the blaze near Campbellville in Butte County, the Sheriff’s Office said.
The truck’s owner was not able to take the dogs, but provided the location of the vehicle to the Sheriff’s Office. Because of the fire, rescuers could not immediately get to the dogs’ location.
On Saturday, days after the dogs were abandoned, Trevor Skaggs, a member of the sheriff’s search-and-rescue team, flew to the area in a helicopter to find the dogs.
Four Rottweiler puppies and their mother were rescued by a Butte County sheriff’s helicopter pilot.
(Butte County Sheriff’s Office)
After landing, Skaggs ran more than a mile to the location where the dogs were reported to be. Though the adult male Rottweiler had died, Skaggs found the mother and puppies still alive in the truck — “tired and very thirsty” — according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Skaggs’ wife, Christina, told the San Jose Mercury News that Skaggs is a vegan and ultra marathoner and that he ran from the helicopter to where the dogs were. Skaggs was familiar with Rottweilers because his first dog was a Rottweiler, she said.
Once he found the dogs, Skaggs sang to them and was able to persuade the mother, and then the puppies, to trust him, his wife said.
Skaggs gave the animals water and fed them a few bites of his granola bar and then got the animals to follow him back more than a mile to the helicopter.
Video provided by the Sheriff’s Office shows the puppies and the mother trailing behind Skaggs as he led them back to the helicopter.
Puppies rescued from Park fire follow Butte County sheriff’s pilot Trevor Skaggs back to his helicopter. (Butte County Sheriff’s Office)
Another member of the Sheriff’s Office, Conner Smith, then flew the dogs to Chico Airport, with Skaggs riding in the back.
Containing the excitable puppies in the helicopter proved difficult, Smith said.
“The puppies were all over the place — they were all up in my seat and the co-pilot’s seat and under the seats in the back,” the pilot told the Mercury News.
The dogs are being cared for by the North Valley Animal Disaster Group. It is not yet clear if they will be reunited with their owner.
Pilot Trevor Skaggs holds the four Rottweiler puppies he rescued from the Park fire.
(Butte County Sheriff’s Office)
“It’s been a horrific few days for our community and we are grateful to be able to share this amazing story,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.