PAWNEE COUNTY, Okla. — As wildfire victims search for help and answers, some are also looking for their pets.
2 News Oklahoma’s Douglas Braff listened to victims about coping with loss and holding out hope.
“I wake up and I wish that it was just a bad dream that I could wake up from,” Tara Upton told 2 News. “But instead, I'm living a nightmare every single day.”
Upton, a Cleveland resident and wildfire victim, pours food and water into bowls throughout her burnt and charred property. She’s done this twice each day since the fire.
We first met her on Thursday when she was getting cat food from the Terlton Volunteer Fire Department.
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“Well, they’ve definitely been out here,” she said, gesturing inside a pet crate she leaves for her cats. “That’s all new footprints in there.”
All four of Upton’s cats (Rocky, Miss Annie, Punkin, and Meathead) have been missing since she lost all she owned on March 14. But signs of hope keep her going.
“All I can do is hope and pray that somebody is able to see them and take care of 'em until they realize it's okay to come back,” she said.
Some wildfire victims, like Paula Venegas, lost some of their pets for good.
When asked how she has been coping with the loss, she replied, “I haven't. I've been like compartmentalizing and just trying to go day by day and not let it hit me yet.”
Venegas and her family had a zoo’s worth of animals: seven dogs and six cats.
As the fire quickly approached their Terlton home on March 14, they loaded two of their most vulnerable dogs into the car, she recalled. She said her husband stayed behind to try and save the other pets.
But then she got the news their house burnt down.
“I said, ‘Where are my dogs? Where are my cats?’ And he said, ‘I opened the door, babe. I opened the door, and I tried to rush 'em out. I tried to get ‘em out, but I don't know who made it out.”
When Venegas returned, they found the remaining dogs, except for one, and a bone-chilling scene.
In the rubble was their dog Ethel and four cat skeletons.
“We had six cats. So, we don't know who these bodies are. We can't distinguish which cats they were,” Venegas said. “I just don't know which of my cats are alive, which, if they're even alive. We haven't been able to like, sift through our home yet.”
“I'm just terrified. I don't-- I wanna be back home. I just wanna go home,” she said about finding the bodies. “It's so traumatizing. I have PTSD from it. Like, I keep shaking. I can't sleep at night.”
As she waits for her at least two missing cats to be found, she’s staying in a Tulsa hotel with her family. She remains hopeful.
“Nobody should ever have to go through this, lose everything you've ever owned,” she said, starting to cry. “It's just not fair.”
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