THE LOS ANGELES EARTHQUAKE : At Pet Shops, Animals Got Shaky Even Before Quake

The animals at Loves Pet Shop in Orange began to act strangely even before Thursday’s earthquake struck, said store manager Karen Clemens.

When Clemens got to the small pet store about 7:30 a.m., she began doing some paper work at the counter. “A fire engine went by, and two puppies began to howl,” she recalled. “The puppies continued to howl, and the kittens began to climb their cage like they wanted to get out. I thought the kittens were just upset because the puppies were howling.”

Clemens said this commotion went on for a “good five minutes” before the quake hit.

When the tremors began, Clemens said, “the ceiling rattled like a herd of football players was up there. Dog food fell off the shelves, the puppies began to howl louder, and the cats were meowing and clawing at the cage.”

About five minutes after the quake, the dogs began to quiet down, but Clemens said it took the kittens about 15 minutes to return to normal.

Studies done in China have suggested that animals’ keen senses of hearing and smell may indeed alert them to earthquakes before humans have a clue.

At University Park Animal Hospital in Irvine, dogs began barking and cats became skittish and tried to attack people trying to give them baths when the quake hit, office manager Cathy Bhrlich said.

Minutes before the quake struck, Michelle Spence began cleaning an animal cage at Grand Avenue Pet Hospital in Santa Ana. Spence, the hospital’s assistant supervisor, said: “Two kittens who’re waiting for adoption, and who’ve been with us for a couple of months, were in the cage. I bent down to start cleaning the cage, and they started growling even before the earthquake hit. They’d never acted that way before, and they’ll probably never act that way again.”