For livestock owners in Washington's floods, evacuating is extra complicated

SEATTLE — As flood warnings got more serious on Monday evening, Kim Head knew she had to pack up her horses and leave.

The Snohomish County resident, who lives outside Monroe, had 14 horses to move as river predictions climbed and floods threatened the property.

Gathering some friends and people who board their horses on her property, Head began loading the horses into trailers and made her way to the Evergreen State Fairgrounds, where other Snohomish County evacuees were bringing hundreds of animals — horses, cows, pigs, fowl and goats — to keep them away from rising floodwaters.

“Evacuations are never fun,” Head said. “These guys are used to being out in big fields all day, every day, so then coming into a barn, some of them aren’t doing so well.”

While the strain of travel and getting settled in a new place has been hard on the animals and those caring for them, Head and others say the fairground has been a soft landing during a stressful time.

“People are showing up to volunteer to clean stalls. There’s coffee every morning, doughnuts, there’s water bottles. Somebody brought us pizza last night,” Head said. “It’s just been absolutely amazing.”

Mike Ohlsen, the manager of the fair park, said the site has been an emergency shelter for animals during floods before. But the scope of this week’s flooding was new. He said this is the biggest evacuation he’s seen in 30 years.

“Not everything is exactly put together the way it needs to be, but we’ve got an incredible team here, and we’re able to get things that weren’t ready, ready in a hurry,” he said. “We’ve not seen this many cattle before, so we were able to quickly put up extra pens and corrals and set up stuff to hold a lot more than we normally have.”

He said while the past few days have been a lot of work for fairgrounds staff, it’s nothing compared to what livestock owners have had to go through.

As of Friday, the fairgrounds had taken in 171 horses, 140 chickens, 104 cattle, 94 goats, 16 pigs, three rabbits and two turkeys.

Ohlsen said while the fairgrounds is used to accommodating large numbers of people and livestock during the fair itself, it was a challenge to get assembled for an emergency situation.

But he said fair staff stepped in, as well as rangers from the Snohomish County Parks system, which oversees the fairgrounds.

There were a few events scheduled for the fairgrounds this week, such as an indoor motor sports event, that had to be canceled. Ohlsen said everyone has been understanding.

“Not like moving a dog”

The past few days have posed logistical challenges for livestock owners in flood-prone areas: Many have leaned on friends and the community for space in their barns and pastures. Others have volunteered to help trailer animals to safer ground, shuttling back and forth.

At rescue hubs like the fairgrounds, many of the animals are not used to being confined to such small spaces, and being around other animals they’re not used to can stress them out.

Ebey Island resident Kathleen Porter-Swartz and her husband moved 12 horses, 20 chickens, three bunnies, three cows and two turkeys into the fairground stalls. On Friday morning, shortly before they prepared to return to their property, they stayed busy shoveling out manure and wood shavings from the stalls, refilling the chickens’ water dishes through their cages and feeding them. Their young son dragged a push broom through the aisles, keeping them clear of straw and dirt.

“Cleaning stalls is a tough one, I don’t have to do that at home,” Porter-Swartz said. “I just take my tractor and push stuff.”

Getting back home, they anticipated, would be just as much work.

Keeping the animals calm is another challenge. Food can help, as can light medication, said Kecia Lee.

Lee, who evacuated eight horses from Snohomish, said horses also get stressed because they want to be near each other.

“For our horse, it was the fact that she was next to her best friend but couldn’t see her,” Lee said. “So we moved her right across and she’s been ridiculously calm ever since. So you do whatever you can to try and solve what we think is the problem.”

Owners also have to keep the horses exercised.

“They’re scared, they’re confused,” said Roberto Ortiz, a Monroe resident who brought 16 horses to the fairgrounds. He said he likely won’t be able to go home until Saturday or Sunday when roads reopen. He anticipates lots of work at the farm, including fixing gates and restocking grain and wood shavings.

While it hasn’t been a major concern, keeping the horses healthy has also been top of mind. An equine virus has been affecting horses across the country. But while two horses in Spokane tested positive for the virus, livestock owners at the fairgrounds Friday said there hasn’t been a big risk in Western Washington so far.

Even as they wait out the flood and anticipate lots of work as they return to their properties, livestock owners said they were grateful to have the option of the fairgrounds.

“I think what people really don’t get is that it’s not just like moving a dog, throwing them in the car, right? We have to bring hay, we have to bring bedding. Luckily there’s been so many donations and stuff,” Lee said. “The community has been amazing.”