LA Fires: What We Did Right For Pets (and People)
If you have been around long enough, then you can remember the headlines about animals being left behind after Hurricane Katrina, or not being allowed into shelters with their owners. As I have written many times before, Katrina really was our collective public awakening around how we respond to disasters with or without pets in mind. Since then, I am pleased to see that we have made enormous strides thanks to a national mobilization of animal rescue organizations, with HSUS and ASPCA often leading the charge. We see rescue volunteers being trained in FEMA’s Incident Command System (it’s free- you should do it!) to understand the broader scope of disaster response. Today, on the news and via social media, we see this mobilization of volunteers and organizations assisting in two primary ways: emptying shelters of their existing animal population by transporting them to other regions not directly impacted by the disaster with rescue organizations that have the capacity to accept the animals, and on the ground immediate sheltering and veterinary aid for lost, stray, and injured animals as well as sheltering for animals that need to be temporarily housed until their guardians can get their feet back under them.
Given that the world is full of just the absolute worst news lately, I would like to focus on the positives here. There is so much to be grateful for in the response to this disaster. Personally, when I see the transports of animals arrive in Portland, I feel such unbelievable joy and gratitude that that they are here.
Taking the Strain off LA Shelters
Despite the sudden and extraordinary scale of the LA fires in January, the nationwide animal rescue system built on shelter and organizational partnerships worked at its finest. As Pasadena Humane almost immediately started intaking animals impacted by the fires, organizations like Greater Good Charities, were hard at work finding shelter partners in other parts of California, Oregon, Washington, and Utah who could take animals from LA area shelters, most of which were already well over capacity before the fires even started. Back in October 2024, Los Angeles Animal Services reported that they were at 170% of capacity, and while I could not confirm the current status as the “capacity meter” link was not working when I checked, I had seen that the capacity had fallen to below 100% after the transfers started. Why is this important? Empty kennels means there is space to take in animals impacted by the fire, and decreases pressure on the entire shelter system to euthanize for space. Lower capacity saves lives.
Let us not forget the hundreds, if not thousands, of people in LA who lined up to foster shelter animals locally. Fostering at any time is a lifesaving activity for shelter animals, but particularly during a disaster. I am personally hoping for some foster fail stories, but I was so deeply touched to see the lines of people waiting to take home a shelter animal they knew nothing about, simply to keep them safe and help shelters during this time. What an indication of increased consciousness and awareness around the needs of animals and shelters during a disaster.
Information Management
Oh, social media commenters. Without getting into the wider world of conspiracy theories and nonsense around these fires, animal rescue was not free from wild accusations and theories either. The majority of these comments focused on the following topics and were not new. The same theories were espoused in Maui following the fires in Lahaina.
Rumor 1: Animal Control officers were stealing pets from people who had lost their homes and immediately putting them up for adoption.
The shelters did a really great job at shutting this down by working their own social media accounts and news coverage. They were very explicit about the adoption hold being extended to 30 days, at which point unclaimed animals would then be put up for adoption- we are not even close to 30 days post-fire yet.
Rumor 2: The transports out of the LA area were full of people’s pets and were being sent to kill shelters in other states.
Now this one really got people fired up, even in the communities where the animals were received by local shelters. Again, media reports made it explicitly clear that the animals being transported were already living in shelters before the fires started (but here we learn that most people love to fire off a comment without reading or listening to the story…). These are animals from high intake shelters who had been waiting months for adoption. In an open intake shelter environment where they must accept any animal, the path out in this situation is either transport or euthanasia. In areas where the pets were transported, unhelpful and untrue comments that animals in the shelters were being euthanized to make space for incoming animals from LA, and critiques about not doing more for local animals started to proliferate on social media. The shelters were very good at explaining how transfers work and despite these comments, adoption interest for these animals from LA has been very high. It was genuinely surprising to me how many people believed that the animals being transported were pets that had been swooped off the streets of Altadena one day and put on a plane to Seattle the next. This proved to be a very important educational opportunity and focus for combatting misinformation.
Finding Lost Pets
Pasadena Humane has been maintaining a current list of all the animals they have in their car, and even publicizing specific animals, to try to connect them back to their guardians. The sad reality is that for some, their guardians may have been lost to the fires, or may not be able to take their animal back due to losing everything, and some animals were strays. LA Animal Services has a list of animals that passed away during the fires as well. Connecting people back to their animals can bring them hope after such a devastatingly traumatic experience. The videos of the human and animal reunions have been tearjerking to say the least. The joy and relief for both the human and the animal is so tangible and we know that doing whatever we can to foster these reunions is deeply important work. This is another reminder to make sure our pets are microchipped.
Lessons in Preparedness and Generosity
For even the most prepared people, the fires in LA moved so quickly that many people had to evacuate without bringing anything with them. For those who did have warning, they provided excellent lessons in pet preparedness. Having crates and carriers to transport their pet, along with food and medication, made evacuations easier. Cat owners gave themselves extra time knowing that it is never easy to convince a cat to go into their carrier and they are so adept at hiding! Hotels opened their doors to families, including pets, in a way that is rarely seen making the sheltering question that much easier. The speed at which people mobilized to publish lists of shelters that accepted pets was astonishing. Horses were not left out of this preparedness either. While some were certainly left behind, there were locations where volunteers lined up with horse trailers to move them to safer areas, like the Rose Bowl, where they were temporarily stabled.
At a challenging time for our country, the displays of generosity for both animals and humans during and after the LA fires is such a strong reminder of the goodness at our core. The donations, the people showing up to volunteer, the people cooking for firefighters and those suddenly in need, the businesses opening up their doors to offer free clothes, food, and assistance in moving forward…I could go on and on about the simple goodness and empathy that the people of LA, and everyone else who has been moved to help in some way, have demonstrated to all of us. It is a reminder that caring for one another can be the most simple thing that we do to stay united and support our communities.
I remain so moved by the human response to the LA fires, for pets and for humans. Sure, there are always examples of what could have gone better or people taking advantage of a tough situation (ahem, property managers…) but I’m choosing to focus on the positive and hope that when the next disaster hits we can say to ourselves “We need to do what they did in LA…”
