ProRodeo Sports News - Sept. 4, 2020

HELPING OUT

Cow Palace doubles as evacuation site during California wildfires Horse Haven Charles Russo photo Judith Gable, of Los Altos, Calif., shares a moment with her horse Lucy, who was evacuated to the Cow Palace from her boarding location at Ciara West Equestrian on Skyline Boulevard in Woodside.

BY SCOTT KANIEWSKI L ori Marshall, the CEO of the Cow Palace in Daly

weather conditions and high winds, according to California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Preparing for the influx on animals wasn’t as challenging for the event center as some might imagine. “It’s been pretty smooth,” Marshall said. “Even though the Cow Palace hasn’t been used as a large-animal evacuation center before, we’re used to all types of livestock because we do put on the rodeo, we have roughstock here, we have drill teams, we have barrel racers, we have color guards, we have Arabians. We’re used to having all kinds of horses. We have junior livestock with over 500 animals every October. “We’re also an event center, that’s what we do. It was like setting up for

City, Calif., received a phone call on Aug. 19. The Cow Palace was being placed on hold as a shelter for animals because of several major fires in Northern California that were burning out of control. One day later, the historic arena had been activated as a shelter and the animals started flooding in – horses, cattle, chickens, sheep, pigs, llamas. Even a camel. Across the region, more than 13,000 lightning strikes contributed to 625 fires, 17 of them considered major fires, which were aided by dry

ProRodeo Sports News 9/4/2020

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