Over 100 Rescued Animals Return Home Safely after Four Days of Bush Fires (PHOTOS)

For the last four days, bush fires have been ragging around Edgar’s Mission animal sanctuary in Willowmavin, Victoria, Australia.

According to the Herald Sun, in the Wallan region, 34 homes have been destroyed and five firefighters have been hurt with seven more being treated for carbon monoxide poisoning. Thus far, 180,000 hectares of land have been devastated by the fires.

To ensure the safety of their animals, Edgar’s Mission embarked on a massive evacuation of its 100+ rescued residents, from cows and goats to rabbits and horses.

Sanctuary staff had no idea what to expect, patrolling through the day and night in case the fire began to extend its reach closer to their grounds.

As the days wore on, feeling much longer than they actually were, staff became “all to familiar with the constant ‘bloops’ coming from [their] phones informing of the latest fire conditions,” but a “quick glance to see the location … [brought] a sigh of relief but then a sense of guilt for it [meant] some other poor innocent [would] have their life, loves and home under threat,” as reported in a recent blog post.

Thankfully, everything turned out well for Edgar’s Mission and the sanctuary’s beloved residents as just today everyone came back home safely!

Kyle Behrend of Edgar’s Mission tells OGP, “We are so lucky we were missed by less than a km on the west, east and south!”

What a wonderful day it is to be an animal at Edgar’s — returning home to eat, frolic, play and rest in peace.

Take a look some of the heartwarming photos of the animals’ return below!

As the sanctuary writes on Facebook, “These images will truly go down in our memory as some of our happiest moments ever. See what you think, and we are sure you will never doubt that non-human animals are emotional creatures too!”

For more photos from this return, check out Edgar’s Mission Facebook collection aptly titled, “The happiest album ever.”

Lead image source: Edgar’s Mission / Facebook