Lightning strike causes setback for Park City pet rescue ranch


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PARK CITY — A pet rescue ranch out in Park City is dealing with weather woes of their own after the latest storm rolled through Wednesday night.

Lightning struck a power pole at Nuzzles & Co., shutting off power and water in the building for most of the day.

“The whole place really shook and we immediately went in to make sure the animals were okay,” said Kathleen Toth, president of Nuzzles & Co. “Then we came out and kind of examined what happened and realized that the power was out, the backup generator was out, and the water wasn’t working because the motherboard on the well had been hit.”

Toth said it was a huge setback for the nonprofit which is funded by donations. The team could not perform the 15 surgeries scheduled for Thursday without power.

“It is a matter of life and death to have power and also a backup generator,” she said. “We have animals on IVs, on respirators and we never operate without the use of our backup generators.”

The team also could not change out water, clean up kennels or do laundry.

“We weren’t able to do that so we went into town and brought in gallons of water. Over 100 gallons,” Toth said.

The bill on that was near $700, but Toth said that was nothing compared to the cost of damages.

“The repairs are going to be between $8,000 and $12,000 so that's a big hit in a cash crunch,” she said.

The nonprofit had to make unexpected and expensive adjustments because of the storm but they were ones Toth said had to be done.

“It's really important to us that we keep chugging, we keep plugging and we keep saving lives,” she said.

At around 5 p.m. Thursday, power came back on in the facility, but water was still out well into the night. The nonprofit hoped water would be restored by Friday morning.

For more information about donating to Nuzzels & Co., visit their website.

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