MIDDLETOWN (KRON) — The Valley Fire has taken a toll on the land and the people who live there. But there has also been a huge impact on the animals in the area.
While some residents were able to flee with their pets, others animals are still missing. In Middletown Friday, a rancher was reunited with his horse, which ran off in the fire’s aftermath.
Middletown rancher Randy Sternberg was all smiles to be holding the harness of his old buddy Lightening once again. The 20-year-old Gelding ran off in the early days of the fire after it swept through the ranch.
He and his family traversed his property, looking for the quarter horse, worried something terrible happened.
It turns out, Lightening got on to another rancher’s property and got injured in a fight with another stallion.
You can see his wounds. He was turned over to the Middletown Animal Hospital where he was treated. He then went to a non-profit in Santa Rosa, which has been taking in and carrying for horses in the wake of the fire.
The animal hospital posted a picture of Lightening on Facebook, where it was spotted by one of Randy’s family members.