Evacuated animals are returned to shelter

SOUTH SALT LAKE — Some of the "residents" evacuated during Sunday's tanker-leak scare were four-legged and furry.

The South Salt Lake Animal Shelter received word at 11:30 a.m. that it had to evacuate, director Jason Rasmussen said.

For the next hour and a half, shelter workers used a horse trailer and private vehicles to move 17 dogs, 13 cats, two goats and a python.

The next step was finding a place for the animals to stay.

Although this was the first time that the shelter was ever evacuated, there was a disaster plan in place, Rasmussen said. All shelters in the valley participate once a year in a disaster-training session, he said.

The animals were taken to Sandy's Animal Shelter with overflow space available at Midvale's shelter.

"It worked out pretty good. We had just enough space for everything," Rasmussen said.

The evacuation was so quick, however, that shelter officials didn't have time to grab everything they needed. Several businesses in Sandy donated cat food and buckets for the animals to drink water, Rasmussen said.

When the animals are moved, they are tagged so officers know exactly which kennel they came from and where they need to be returned.

"We keep track of the dogs at all times," Rasmussen said.

On Monday, animal shelter workers from Sandy, South Jordan and Midvale assisted South Salt Lake in moving the animals back to their homes by 11 a.m.

"We come together as the Utah Animal Control Association," said Rasmussen.

None of the animals showed any signs of being sick from the fumes released from the tanker, he said.

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