La Habra Heights committee outlines plan to form community large-animal rescue team

Patricia Kelly proposed creating a La Habra Heights large-animal rescue team that would be certified, practiced and formally affiliated with established county response groups, and asked staff to help secure insurance and staging sites.

Kelly said the goal is to recruit about 20 trained volunteers and to “apply to the California to get the insurance” once that threshold is met. She told the committee she has already connected with a trainer she identified as Bill from the El Roio facility in Brea and that the group intends to affiliate with the Orange County and Los Angeles large-animal response networks for training and incident protocols.

The plan emphasizes formal procedures for handling livestock: volunteers would be trained in safe loading and unloading, trailer readiness, animal identification (photos and tags) and recordkeeping so owners can be quickly reconnected with animals. Kelly said the team would meet for practice after certification and wear identifying badges and shirts so operations are orderly and integrated with first responders.

She discussed staging-area options and logistics, saying high schools with agricultural programs typically offer water, loading zones and fenced areas suitable for sheltering animals, while parks lack those amenities. Kelly said she has begun contacting the joint high school district about facilities and named several potential staging locations south of the Heights.

Kelly asked city staff to follow up on coordination with emergency agencies: “I would like you to approach after the 4th of July… section 8, section 12, and section 21 are the sections that were recommended that we need to link with first,” she told Chief Martin and Rafferty, asking Rafferty to coordinate with the sheriff’s department about a nearby equestrian center.

Committee members and Kelly discussed outreach strategies to recruit owners and volunteers, including short Facebook posts, the local “Heights Life” publication, printed welcome packets for new residents and face-to-face recruitment at an August or September seminar. Kelly said she expected to have affiliation and partial training by the end of the summer and to bring an initial group to training in August or September if she reaches the 20-member target.

There was no formal vote on the proposal; members asked staff to work with Kelly on insurance, staging-area permissions and outreach and to include details in a future packet or meeting for review.

The committee moved on to other agenda items; next procedural steps are staff follow-up with Chief Martin and the city manager and an invitation to the trainer to appear at the proposed August event.