Photos: Southern California pets receive aid from rescue groups

Elise Hu | January 15, 2025

On Jan. 12, Best Friends Animal Society received cats and dogs from Pasadena Humane. Employees and volunteers spent the day intaking animals and donated supplies in an effort. Here, Best Friends' Nina Lewis holds a dog before its medical examination. — On Jan. 12, Best Friends Animal Society received cats and dogs from Pasadena Humane. Employees and volunteers spent the day intaking animals and donated supplies in an effort. Here, Best Friends’ Nina Lewis holds a dog before its medical examination. (Ryan Kellman | NPR)

From cats and birds to tortoises and horses, a network of rescue groups is caring for animals affected by wildfires still burning throughout the Los Angeles area. But all these pet evacuees need space. To make room at kennels, a multi-state operation is under way to transport adoptable pets to other states. Animal rescue groups are moving hundreds of dogs and cats out of fire-devastated Southern California to relieve the local animal shelters overwhelmed by temporarily housing the pets of evacuees.

“Over the past three days we have done ground transports and a flight to Utah,” said Brittany Thorn, who heads the non-profit animal rescue Best Friends Animal Society. She estimates they transported more than 250 animals to other states this week. The animals come in from Pasadena Humane, which has been a central shelter for hundreds of pets affected by the Eaton Fire in Altadena and Pasadena. Then they get a medical check at Best Friends in West LA, before their journey to a destination to be adopted.

Samantha Romero (left) and Nina Lewis attempt to distract a newly arrived dog so it can be examined by a veterinarian. (Ryan Kellman | NPR)

Animal rescue groups are transporting hundreds of dogs and cats out of fire devastated California to relieve local animal shelters overwhelmed by ongoing Los Angeles County wildfires. (Ryan Kellman | NPR)

“It is definitely a big process. There are a lot of people that are involved in this. And what we’ve been seeing are people from all over the country reaching out and they want to help. There are organizations in Nevada, in Utah, in all of these places who are saying we can take animals. We just need to be able to get them there,” Thorn said.

Californians available to foster cats and dogs have also stepped up to alleviate capacity at shelters. So many have offered to foster that some foster programs have been put on hold because they were able to place needy pets. And the donations of animal supplies to support foster pets have come in at a steady clip to animal shelters across the area. At Best Friends, dozens of volunteers worked through the weekend to unpack and sort cat litter, dog food, toys, treats and other pet necessities that strangers have sent in from across the country.

“We have had so many people reach out and they want to help. We have people just showing up at the door. They want to do anything that they can,” Thorn said.