Matt and Eve Hawkins
"I grew up with animals," says Eve Hawkins, who spent her childhood
years along the McKenzie River east of Eugene. "We had everything from
reptiles in the house to horses outside and everything in between. We
rescued a litter of skunk babies after the mother was murdered by a
dog. It was the start of my love of rescuing animals." She and her
husband Matt, a North Eugene grad, have five acres on the Pleasant Hill
side of Dexter, where they are raising their three children, along with
three horses, two miniature horses, three cows, five sheep, two goats,
many ducks, geese, and turkeys, four dogs and four cats. They also
foster rescued animals for Lucky Paws Animal Rescue in Springfield.
They learned of the Holiday Farm fire in the nearby McKenzie River
Valley on their return from a Labor Day weekend campout. Eve quickly
found the Facebook page Holiday Farm Fire Animal Rescue, hosted by
former Lane County animal welfare worker Julie Ohashi, who coordinated
rescue efforts from her new home in Michigan. Two days later, when
their own threat of evacuation was eased, Matt headed upriver with his
Chevy Suburban and horse trailer. "I went up every day for two weeks,"
he says. "Most of what I did was to bring food and water to animals
sheltering in place." He also transported animals downriver at the
request of owners. Livestock were taken to the Lane County fairgrounds
in Eugene; dogs and cats went to Lucky Paws. Eve, an administrator at
an assisted living facility, joined him full-time on weekends and
part-time some weekdays. "We were taking care of animals in Leaburg,"
she relates, "when we got a call about a place upstream where they
needed more resources. It was pretty intense, still burning in hot
spots. A friend and I got two kunekune pigs into a trailer while Matt
and a team were getting six or eight Jacob sheep loaded. I can't even
tell you how many geese and ducks we loaded up. That was our favorite
rescue."
happening people
photograph and story by Paul Neevel
Eugene Weekly / 12 November 2020
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