More than 80 pets boarded emergency rescue flights out of the Hollywood Burbank Airport this weekend — embarking on a journey to sanctuary shelters.
The rescue effort, intended to help get the animals away from the wildfires tearing through much of Los Angeles County, came about through a partnership between Best Friends Animal Society, a leading animal welfare organization working to end the killing of cats and dogs in America’s shelters, and Wings of Rescue, a donation-supported charity that air transports abandoned, homeless and otherwise at-risk pets from overcrowded shelters, disaster areas and dangerous circumstances to safety.
With their paws and whiskers all in a row, 58 cats and 26 dogs boarded a flight to Kanab, Utah, on Saturday, Jan. 11. They headed to Best Friends Animal Society Sanctuary — one of the nation’s largest no-kill animal sanctuaries. On Sunday, Jan. 12, Wings of Rescue helped make a second flight with a load of pets headed to Seattle. Both flights were supported, in part, by a donation from the Cencora Impact Fund.
Transporting the animals to other states, organizers said, will directly relieve communities by reducing overcrowding in shelters in wildfire areas, freeing up space and resources.
“In the rush to evacuate a disaster such as the Palisades and Eaton fires, often pets can escape or become separated from their owners,” organizers said in a press release. “It then becomes the work of first responders and shelter workers to find and secure these lost pets until they can be reunited with their owners.”
Best Friends Animal Society has been closely working with Los Angeles County animal shelters and rescue groups throughout the years to provide aid and save pets’ lives, making transporting them out of state possible.
The organization also operates the Best Friends Pet Lifesaving Center in West Los Angeles, 1845 Pontius Ave., where they are currently operating a “pet pantry” for affected Angelenos.
The Wings of Rescue’s twin-engine turboprop plane waited at the Burbank Airport on Saturday morning for transport vehicles, which contained pets pulled from the Los Angeles Animal Shelter in Lancaster.
All pets were medically cleared for travel and several safeguards were built in to avoid transporting a pet that is simply lost, according to a press release.
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