Fire zones to forever homes: Utah shelters make room for Los Angeles dogs
On Jan. 17, a small plane touched down at the Logan-Cache Airport. On board were seven dogs from California, ready to find new homes in Utah.
The fires in Southern California have devastated the Los Angeles community and displaced animals throughout the area, creating a desperate need for shelter space to give emergency boarding and care.
To combat this, shelters in Utah have begun to take in pre-fire adoptable pets — animals that were in the shelters before the fires started — from the LA shelters to help make room.
Among the shelters in Utah that have begun to take in these animals are the Best Friends Animal Society Salt Lake City and Kanab locations and Cache Humane Society in Logan.
Michelle Sathe, public relations and marketing strategist for Best Friends, said they found out they would need to accept some pets through communication with their LA location.
“As soon as news started breaking out about the wildfires in Los Angeles, our leadership team immediately knew this was something we would need to get involved with,” Sathe said. “We have a Best Friends pet adoption shelter in Los Angeles, which has been the hub of activity for us in the area.”
Cache Humane Society’s director Bri Smith said their organization is also in communication with shelters in LA, and after finding out about the fires, they decided to reach out.
“We are transfer partners with some wonderful shelters and rescues down in LA,” Smith said. “After learning about the fires, we knew they would probably need help. So we got involved and said we would do whatever we could.”
Sathe said they immediately began to transfer pre-fire adoptable pets to their Best Friends Utah locations.
Bubbles, one of the seven dogs flown to Logan from LA, receiving belly rubs from volunteers on Jan. 17.
“Our ultimate goal is to clear out the shelters in Los Angeles so that any pets that are actually displaced by the fires can come in and have a safe place to be in LA until they’re either reunited with their owners or adopted,” Sathe said.
Smith said they began to clear out as much space as possible in Cache Humane through adoptions and fostering in order to make space for any transfers they received.
“We have been pushing adoptions and then holding kennel space for these dogs that we knew were coming in,” Smith said. “We have already had 21 adoptions this year, and we knew we needed to save kennels just in case they needed us. So when we got asked, we were ready to accept.”
These transfers were made possible by Wings of Rescue, an LA-based charity that facilitates large-scale transports of shelter pets from disaster areas. Volunteers Angela and Kale Keeling piloted the flight that brought dogs to Cache Humane.
“When disaster strikes, Wings of Rescue is there to try and help out, move the animals and do what we can clear out the shelter so that the animals that are in danger have somewhere to go,” Angela Keeling said.
Hannah Castillo Mortensen, Cache Humane clinic assistant manager, said they had to prepare both physically and mentally.
“We made sure we had the necessary supplies needed as well as the staff preparing internally for what was to come,” Mortensen said.
Sathe said she felt it was important they take in transfers as LA gets back on its feet.
Cache Humane Society volunteers and staff unloading dogs from the Wings of Rescue plane on Jan. 17.
“LA has been devastated by these fires. This means there are going to be a lot of animals that have been displaced and will be picked up and brought into LA shelters,” Sathe said. “There will be a lot of people who do not have a place to live and will need housing for their pets while they figure out their situation or may need these shelters to find new homes for their pets.”
Smith shared a similar sentiment.
“The fires are devastating, and we want to help in the best way we can,” Smith said. “Having a safe place where these displaced animals can stay while their owners are looking for them is absolutely crucial, and if we can help open up those kennels by taking adoptable dogs, we’re going to do it.”
Mortensen assumes they will continue to receive animals for months to come.
“I’m expecting we have a lot more to come and will be pretty busy for a while,” Mortensen said. “I think we’ll take in as many animals as we can, knowing that the extra hours put in will be worth it because we will be saving animals’ lives.”
Sathe said the community can help support shelters by adopting, fostering and donating.
“Best Friends has locations in Salt Lake City and Kanab,” Sathe said. “People can go to the Best Friends website to donate, or they can donate in person.”
Mortensen said the community can also help by volunteering and participating in their Doggy Day Trip program.
“Our day trip program allows the dogs to get out of the shelter for a couple hours during the day,” Mortensen said. “You can take them on a hike, go to the park, get a pup cup and lots of other things. Being in a shelter for so long can be hard on the dogs and can deteriorate their mental health.”
Those who wish to donate to either shelter can visit their websites at bestfriends.org/donate or cachehumane.org/donate or can visit their local shelter’s website or location.