The pitbull mix arrived at the Pasadena Human covered in ash, its paws torn from walking on the burning debris, its lungs suffocated by smoke. A good Samaritan found the dog in the rubble in Altadena, wrapped it in a blanket and brought it to a shelter.
Still too weak to walk Saturday, Canela was reunited with his owner — thanks to CNN’s coverage of Acts of Kindness. The injured pet is undergoing medical treatment and is one of more than 400 animals that have arrived at the Pasadena facility since last Tuesday’s wildfires in Southern California.
Animal facilities, veterinarians and aid organizations have helped dogs, horses, donkeys, goats, sheep and other animals displaced by the ongoing fires along with their human owners.
The Humane Society began accepting animals as temporary shelters when families evacuated their homes. But conditions improved, with the disaster spreading, killing 16 people, burning 39,000 acres (157.83 sq km) and forcing at least 153,000 people to flee their homes.
“We’re seeing more injured animals coming in now,” said Dea Durante, president and chief executive of Pasadena Humane. “We’re also starting to see people who brought their animals to what we thought would be a temporary shelter, but they don’t have homes to go back to, and so it’s a turning into a long-term shelter situation.”
Some animals bear the scars of the ordeal, such as severely burned huskies with singed fur and charred paws.
“No one has come back to reclaim him,” said the humane society’s chief veterinarian, Dr. Maria Perdek, adding that the dog is slowly showing signs of recovery. “He wasn’t even lifting his head when he came in. He was completely exhausted.”
DuVernet said the organization has entered a new phase of disaster response, search, rescue and recovery. Pasadena Humane is prioritizing calls to help live animals in burn areas — including eight injured peacocks.
A man in Altadena contacted the Humane Society to help bring water to cows, sheep and a bull while he was away. could not be reached because the fire destroyed a bridge.
“We’re strategizing how we can get a significant amount of water out of that canyon and up that hill, so that these animals don’t die of dehydration,” Duvernet said.
Throughout the crisis, DuVernet said the community provided enough donations to fill five U-Haul trucks.
Horse and donkey shelter
In nearby Burbank, the Los Angeles Equestrian Center takes in about 400 animals, mostly horses but also some donkeys. Some were brought in by homeowners who had evacuated their homes and some were brought in by law enforcement agencies who found them on the loose.
The Eaton fire on Los Angeles’ east side engulfed an area full of horse lovers.
“People have horses in their backyards in these neighborhoods,” said LeAnn Clavell, general manager of the equestrian center. This has long been a horse area. This is where the Hollywood Western was born, because of all the cowboys and ranches in the area.
Claywell said some of the evacuated horses appeared stressed when they arrived in their new environment, “but by and large, everyone seemed to have kind of stumbled into a routine.”
On Saturday, dozens of volunteers helped walk and feed the horses and clean the grounds. The center was flooded with donations of apples and carrots for the animals and pizza and sandwiches for the humans. Smoke was visible from the Palisades fire to the west and the Eaton fire to the east.
At one point, all the stalls in the center were full. Vacancies opened up as some evacuation orders were lifted and owners were able to reclaim their animals.
Keri Saida was carrying her two donkeys and two horses she brought to the center when she was forced to evacuate her home at 3:45 a.m. Wednesday.
“It was very scary, the sky was on fire,” Saida said.
Saida borrowed a horse trailer from a neighbor and drove to a place near the Rose Bowl only to find out. After finding a place for the horses Zippy and Sonny at an equestrian center in Burbank, she moved back in with the donkeys Midge and Thelma.
On Saturday, Saida said she was grateful to the staff and volunteers and said her animals will likely miss their generous provisions.
“A lot of support and a lot of goodwill is being shared,” Saida said.