Hundreds Of Pets Missing After Marshall Fire; Community Groups Work To Reunite Animals With Owners

SUPERIOR, Colo. (CBS4) -- Amid the Marshall Fire, hundreds are posting online they have pets missing, and many people in the community are doing what they can to help reunite the pets with their owners.

Kelsey Stocks spent Sunday afternoon in Superior looking for any signs of life. She's a veterinarian with the group Soul Dog Rescue.

"We are trying as hard as we possibly can to find any animals that potentially lived through the fire, but also then lived through the negative, five-degree weather we had yesterday," said Stocks.

Along with hundreds of families displaced so were many animals. Soul Dog Rescue has saved over a dozen animals since the fire began on Thursday.

"We actually got the 11 guinea pigs that were in a house that had to be evacuated, so they were all alive and in good condition," Stocks said.

Hours into the destructive fire, community members created the Facebook group Boulder County Fire Lost and Found Pets. In a matter of days, the group garnered more than 19,000 members. It serves as a resource guide for pet owners.

"The amount of pets that have gone missing -- it's unbelievable," said Katie Albright, one of the admins of the page. "We also have a lot of owners coming in and posting their missing pets, and then, we're able to direct them to the proper resources to post a help ticket -- a request for animal rescue."

Sunday, Boulder County officials said requests for animal rescues should be made through the Office of Emergency Management website. They say volunteers should not go looking for pets on their own because of safety reasons. But for those like Stocks, every minute is critical for our furry friends.

"We also understand that there is liability that comes with it, and we're trying to be as careful as possible," Stocks said. "But it just doesn't feel right to sit at home, and hope that other people help solve this problem."

Soul Dog Rescue members said a lot of the animals that have successfully been reunited with their owners is because they're microchipped. The community can help by turning on their doorbell cams to see if any animals show up throughout the day. For more information on how to file a rescue request, visit OEM's emergency status page.