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AZ volunteers help make room at LA animal shelters
As crews continue to work on containing the various wildfires in the Los Angeles area, many animals have been left behind by people escaping from the flames. FOX 10's Ashlie Rodriguez has more on what a group of Arizona volunteers are doing in order to help those animals.
PHOENIX - As efforts to contain the Southern California wildfires continue, attention is now turning to the animals left behind during evacuation orders.
The fire killed countless animals, both wild and domesticated. Animal control is picking up hundreds of lost, injured, and abandoned animals in Los Angeles, and shelters in Los Angeles County are being inundated with cats and dogs.
"I can’t believe how many people we heard say ‘I would never, ever leave my animals behind. I’ll put them in the car,’" said Western Arizona Humane Society Director Patty Gillmore. "Well, a lot of these people had to get out of their cars and run. So if you have one or two pets and children, I hate to say it, but sometimes the animal is last to go."
Now, animal advocates in Arizona are working to save the lives of the ones left behind. Lake Havasu-based Western Arizona Humane Society and a Mohave County group called Feral Cat Warriors have rushed to the rescue, working with their volunteers and partners to empty out LA's overfilled shelters, and make room for the flood of displaced dogs and cats flowing in.
"I've personally been doing this for over 10 years in several different disaster areas," said Charles Black with Feral Cat Warriors. "The animals always get overlooked. Everybody rushes in to help the people, yet the animals get overlooked."
The volunteers drove the distance on Jan. 12, and worked throughout the night, bringing back dozens of cats and dogs.
"They had so many volunteers and fosters stepping up, it was unbelievable," said Black.
This is going to be an ongoing process, and more trips are planned in the coming days. Officials with the effort say they need volunteers, fosters, food and donations.
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