Nicole Montanez called four hotels on Tuesday until she found a safe room for her son and 4-year-old Havanese, Diego. The dog coughed the entire 75-minute drive from Pacific Palisades to Marina del Rey. In Marina del Rey, a family was evacuating from the wildfires burning through Los Angeles.
“I have to give him a bath,” Montanez, 42, said of Diego. “He smells smoke too.”
The wildfires that have killed five people and forced tens of thousands to evacuate since Tuesday morning are also wreaking havoc on the dogs, cats and other animals that call Los Angeles home. While some owners have fled with their pets, a network of rescues and shelters in the Los Angeles area is working hard to care for the hundreds of animals left behind.
More than 180 animals of all shapes and sizes have been dropped off at Pasadena Humane since Tuesday night, said Kevin McManus, public relations manager for the shelter. “There are pigs on the scene right now,” he said. “There was a pony there about 15 minutes ago.”
As local residents learn the extent of the damage to their homes and businesses, shelter staff are scrambling to make room for the animals expected to arrive in the coming days. A room often used for dog neutering surgeries has been renovated as additional kennel space. The shelter is looking for volunteers to help with the overflow of animals.
“We had to move everyone around like Tetris pieces,” McManus said, adding, “There’s still a line of people with their pets outside waiting to bring their pets.” .
Megan Fenner, manager of the Lange Foundation, an animal shelter in West Los Angeles, said she has received nearly 60 calls from panicked pet owners since the fire broke out. Rescuers are distributing pet food, blankets and medicine to pet owners who may have left in a hurry without the necessary supplies.
Fenner said three dogs had been dropped off by Wednesday morning, and more cats had arrived. She said she worries the shelter will soon run out of space. “We can make makeshift pens if we need to,” she said.
The Los Angeles Department of Animal Services is directing pet owners to the Westwood Recreation Center and Ritchie Valens Recreation Center, which are accepting evacuees and their small pets. Horses and other large animals can be brought to the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, according to the department’s website.
Jill Tucker, chief executive of the California Animal Welfare Association, said it’s difficult to say exactly how many pets have been evacuated by the wildfires, but the number is likely in the thousands. On Wednesday, she was joining a Google Group that works with more than 300 shelters and other animal protection groups across the state.
“There’s always a risk that the winds will shift and the very shelters that are caring for the animals will have to evacuate,” she said.
Montanez, crouching in a hotel room in Marina del Rey, still doesn’t know whether his home was gutted or whether the clothing store he runs in the Palisades was destroyed. “Those things aren’t necessarily on my mind as much as the importance of my dog and my kids being safe and with me,” she said.
