Active evacuation? Call your coordinator: West of the Cascades 541-217-8235 East of the Cascades 831-235-3031
Southern Oregon Emergency Aid, Volunteer Emergency Animal Evacuation Team
Photo: Marnie Brown

Volunteer Emergency Animal Evacuation Team · Southern Oregon & N. California

Getting Southern Oregon's pets and livestock to safety.

We transport and shelter animals during wildfires, floods, and other disasters. Trained volunteers, coordinated from one place.

Get Emergency Help Get on the Response List Support Us

Please don't self-deploy. Get on our list and our coordinator will call you where you're needed. That is how we keep animals, owners, and volunteers safe.

In an emergency

Facing an evacuation? We're here to help.

Call early. The sooner you reach your coordinator, the more we can do, so don't wait for a mandatory order.

We're organized in two regions, split by the Cascade Mountains. Call the coordinator for your side, it's the fastest way to reach us.

West of the Cascades Curry (OR) · Josephine (OR) · Jackson (OR) · Douglas (OR) · Del Norte (CA) 541-217-8235 Linda Bacon, Coordinator Tap to call → East of the Cascades Klamath (OR) · Siskiyou (CA) 831-235-3031 Maria Meister, Coordinator Tap to call →

Not sure which side you're on? Call either number and we'll route you. If we can't answer right away, leave a message and we'll call you straight back, 24/7 during a fire.

1

Call us early

Reach 541-217-8235 before you're under a mandatory order. Early calls save animals.

2

Tell us what you have

How many animals, what kind, and where you are. We'll ask a few quick questions.

3

Get them ready

If you can, have halters, crates, and carriers by the driveway.

4

We coordinate the rest

Trained volunteers with trailers are dispatched to you, and they stay in touch the whole way.

Have this ready when you call

  • The address where the animals are
  • Number and type of animals
  • Any that need special handling (injured, aggressive, hard to load)
  • A phone number we can reach you on

Horses, goats, chickens, dogs, cats. No animal is too large or too small. We'll help get them out, and our help is always free.

What we do

We evacuate, transport, and shelter.

SOEA is committed to transporting and housing livestock and companion animals in response to disasters. Our all-volunteer team covers seven counties across Southern Oregon and Northern California.

Evacuate

When fire, flood, or disaster threatens, trained volunteers get animals out before it's too late.

Transport

With trailers and trucks, we move animals large and small: horses, goats, chickens, dogs, cats, and more.

Shelter

Host farms across the region take evacuated animals in and care for them until it's safe to go home.

It all runs through one coordinator. Every need is matched to the right volunteer with the right equipment, so help arrives organized, never chaotic, and never self-deployed.

Join the response list

Get on the list, and we'll call you when a fire comes.

Register once. When a fire threatens, our coordinator calls you where there's a need that fits what you have, and you say yes only if you're able.

  1. 1 Fill out the short form and tell us what you can offer.
  2. 2 We add you to the coordinated call list.
  3. 3 When fire threatens, we call you. You say yes if you're able.
West of the Cascades → East of the Cascades →

Sign up for your region. The form takes about three minutes, and your contact details stay private.

A woman stands in her farmyard watching a wildfire smoke column rise over the ridge behind her barnsPhoto: Janet Woolfolk-Watson

Our story

It started with one panicked phone call.

In 2014, a friend with an animal sanctuary called Linda Bacon in a panic. A fire was coming. Linda told her not to worry, she'd reach whoever evacuates animals, and then she found out no one did. So she posted on Facebook and asked if anyone with a trailer would come help.

The first volunteer signed on that day. Within two days there were thirty. In under a week, a hundred.

"When we hit 100 volunteers in less than a week, I was dancing on the stars. It was the best thing that ever happened."

Linda Bacon, founder

Today, SOEA is roughly 300 volunteers across two states, coordinated from one place: Linda on the west side of the Cascades, Treasurer Maria Meister on the east. Still all volunteers. Still neighbors helping neighbors.

From the field

Rescues we'll never forget.

Horses and a volunteer silhouetted against a wildfire skyPhoto: J. Tiller

Twenty goats in the dark

A daughter called late one evening. Her mother had a menagerie of goats, barn cats, and dogs, a fire heading straight for them, and she wanted to wait. Our team quietly staged down the road. When the yes finally came, they were ready. Pitch dark, a cougar prowling nearby, more than twenty goats to round up, and not one animal left behind.

Oons the emu, rescued by SOEA volunteers during the 2018 Taylor Creek Fire near Merlin

Oons the emu

A 25-year-old pet emu named Oons (say "Awns"), rescued near Merlin during the 2018 Taylor Creek Fire. A maze of fences, a Level 3 evacuation, helicopters overhead. He would not load. He spat, he kicked, and one volunteer swore he was a dinosaur. At the shelter he still wouldn't leave the trailer, until Mary Ann looked him in the eye and said, "Oons, if you don't get out of this trailer, we're having emu barbecue tomorrow." Out he came.

Why we do this

"So why do we do this? Because we can. And we want to help."

Maria Meister, Treasurer & Co-President

Someone asked me yesterday, why do we do this? At first, I didn't have a response. I've never thought about why.

Now that I've had some time to think about it, we do it because we can. We have the equipment, employers that allow us to take the time off, and the means to volunteer our money and time.

We have training. We have trained with TLAER and other organizations. We have experience. Myself, over 45 years working with horses. We have taken the time to learn how to get horses in trailers under the most difficult circumstances. Horses that have never been haltered or even been in a trailer.

We do it methodically, with a lot of thought for the well-being of the horse, both mentally and physically. Because chances are, they will need to be put in a trailer again, often soon.

So why do we do this? Because we can. And we want to help. Each person has their own set of skills that lends them to help in some way. This is ours.

Who we are

The people who answer the call.

SOEA runs on volunteers. A small team keeps it coordinated, day and night, across two states.

Linda Bacon

Linda Bacon

Executive Director / Resource Manager, West Side

Started SOEA in 2014. Coordinates rescues west of the Cascades.

Maria Meister with a horse in the snow

Maria Meister

Treasurer & Co-President

Keeps the books and coordinates rescues east of the Cascades.

Kris Oyler riding in an indoor arena

Kris Oyler

Secretary / Resource Manager

Keeps the records straight and serves on the east-side evacuation team with Maria.

Marnie Brown with a horse

Marnie Brown

Shelter Manager, Josephine County Fairgrounds

Runs the animal shelter at the Josephine County Fairgrounds.

More photos coming soon.

100,000+animals helped to safety
19,000+in a single fire
~300volunteers ready to respond
7counties, two states
2014helping neighbors since
100%volunteer-run

Right now

We need help covering volunteer insurance for this fire season.

Support this need

In the news

Covered by local news for years.

Newsrooms across the region have followed our rescues since 2018, from the Taylor Creek Fire to the Bootleg and Rum Creek fires and every season since.

Grange Co-op delivering a truckload of hay and a donation check to SOEA
Grange Co-op, showing up with hay and a check. Photo: Marnie Brown

With gratitude

Partners who show up.

Year after year, these neighbors have come through for us, and we know they'll be there again.

  • Grange Co-op
  • Tractor Supply Co.
  • 4-H
  • Josephine County Fairgrounds
  • Jackson County Expo

After the fire

Lost livestock, forage, or fencing to fire? There's help to pay for it.

The USDA Farm Service Agency runs disaster programs for Oregon producers hit by wildfire and drought. You report your losses through your local USDA Service Center, and the deadline matters.

USDA graphic: Help Available, disaster assistance for Oregon producers impacted by drought and wildfire. Programs LFP, LIP, ELAP, TAP, and low-interest loans. Deadline March 1, 2027 for 2026 losses.
  • LFPLivestock Forage Disaster Program. Compensation for grazing losses due to drought or fire.
  • LIPLivestock Indemnity Program. Compensation for livestock deaths or injuries.
  • ELAPEmergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish. Helps cover feed, grazing, transportation, and other emergency needs.
  • TAPTree Assistance Program. Cost-share to replant or rehabilitate trees, bushes, and vines.
  • LoansLow-interest loans and loan servicing to help you recover.

Deadline March 1, 2027 for 2026 losses under most programs.

Find your USDA Service Center ↗ Read about the programs ↗

Be prepared

Get ready before the next fire.

Get your animals ready before a fire, not during one. Over the years, SOEA has gathered practical guides for pet and livestock owners in our area.

Evacuation Levels: Ready, Set, Go

What Level 1, 2, and 3 mean, and why animals should move one level early.

Read guide →

Pet and Livestock Preparedness

Make a plan, find a safe place, ID your animals, build a kit, and know what to do when you come home.

Read guide →

Lightning Activity Level

What the 1 to 6 lightning scale in a fire weather forecast means, and why LAL 6 is the one to watch.

Read guide →

National Preparedness Levels

What Preparedness Levels 1 through 5 mean for how stretched the nation's fire crews are.

Read guide →

Industrial Fire Precaution Levels

Levels I through IV, and what each one shuts down for saws, yarding, and other spark-emitting work.

Read guide →

Disaster Preparedness for Horses

Permanent ID, papers in a watertight envelope, trailer practice, and a backup plan if you can't take them.

Read guide →

FEMA: Planning for Pets and Livestock

A kit, evacuation, safe transport for every kind of pet, and what to do if you truly must leave one behind.

Read guide →

The Fine Print: Oregon Law

Senate Bill 570, the 2007 law that requires Oregon to plan for evacuating and sheltering pets, service animals, and livestock.

Read guide →

Emergency Water Purification

Settle, filter, then boil or bleach. Exact drops of bleach for a quart, a gallon, and a 5-gallon jug.

Read guide →

Resources

Fire information, live maps & downloads

Where the fires are, what the restrictions say, how the air looks, and the checklists and workbooks to fill in before you need them.

  • Oregon fire restrictions map
  • InciWeb & NWCC fire maps
  • Air quality
  • Live lightning
  • Horse evacuation checklist
  • Preparedness plan workbook
  • Family communications plan
Open the Resources page

Questions

Common questions.

Is your help free?

Yes. We're volunteers, and we never charge to evacuate or shelter your animals.

What animals do you help?

Horses, livestock, and household pets, plus the unusual ones. No animal is too large or too small.

What area do you cover?

Seven counties: Curry, Josephine, Jackson, Klamath, and Douglas in Oregon, and Del Norte and Siskiyou in Northern California.

What if I have to leave before you arrive?

Call us anyway. If it's safe, leave gates unlocked and halters on, and leave a note with your animals' details and a phone number where we can reach you.

Can I volunteer without a trailer?

Yes. We also need trucks, drivers, host farms, and office help. Get on the response list and tell us what you can offer.

Should I just show up to help during a fire?

Please don't. Call the coordinator so we can send you where you're needed and keep everyone safe.

How do I get my animals ready before a fire?

Start with our Be Prepared guides, or call us and we'll talk it through with you.

Where your money goes

What your gift pays for.

We're all volunteers, so what you give goes straight to the work.

  1. 01

    Volunteer insurance

    Our volunteers drive toward the fire when everyone else is driving away. We insure them so they're protected. This year we came up short and couldn't cover it.

  2. 02

    Fuel and trucks

    Hauling a loaded trailer costs a fortune. We reimburse the volunteers who make load after load, often through gift cards from Grange Co-op and Tractor Supply.

  3. 03

    Feed for the animals we shelter

    When a family loses their barn, they lose their hay and tack too. We feed their animals until they can go home.

  4. 04

    Emergency supply runs

    When it's urgent, we move. One year we got a semi load of hay to Hornbrook two days before the snow closed the roads.

Support us

Help us help.

We ask for donations when the need is real. When disaster strikes, we put out the call, and people answer.

Give now

Scan the code with your phone, or tap the button. Any amount helps.

PayPal QR code to donate to Southern Oregon Emergency Aid Donate via PayPal

Get the call

Follow us on Facebook, or sign up to hear the moment we need help.

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Give supplies or a check

Hay, feed, and crates help too. Prefer to mail a check?

SOEA, c/o Treasurer
779 Miller Island Rd
Klamath Falls, OR 97603

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Southern Oregon Emergency Aid is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, EIN 83-1493679. Your donation is tax-deductible, and we're 100% volunteer-run, so more of every dollar reaches the animals.