Pets Suffer During Palm Desert Power Outage

It was a little uncomfortable Monday for people and their pets living in the Vista Del Montanas community of Palm Desert.

They had to deal with a planned power outage announced by Southern California Edison. The company planned to conduct some routine maintenance. Edison alerted residents about the outage two weeks ago, but Darcy Van Dyke says Edison failed to take the health of pets into consideration.

She said pets can be stuck inside a home with no air conditioning during an outage.

Van Dyke owns two dogs including Mona, a Animal Samaritans therapy dog. She suggested to Edison they provide cooling shelters for pets during outages.

The idea didn’t go over too well.

“Their attitude was, they told me on the phone our pets weren’t their concern,” she said. “We were responsible for our own pets, so I had to board my two dogs today which is costing me $50.00.”

Edison spokesman Kathy DeRosa said a minimum of 2 weeks notice is given for a planned power outage, and that should be ample time for customers to make arrangements for their pets.

“We gave them sufficient notice so they can make those accommodations, a friend, somewhere where they might be able to leave their pet,” said DeRosa. “They have sufficient notice so that they can take care of accommodations for themselves and the animals they may have.”

There are cooling centers across the valley to help people beat the heat. However, the only animals allowed inside those centers are guide dogs.