Over 80 Shelter Pets Flown Out of Los Angeles to Safety in Emergency Rescue Flight amid Wildfires

More than 80 pets boarded emergency rescue flights out of Los Angeles this week amid the raging wildfires — and they're now safe and adoptable.

On Saturday, Jan. 11, the Best Friends Animal Society shared a press release detailing how 84 pets — including 58 cats and 26 dogs — made their way to Hollywood Burbank Airport in Los Angeles County from animal shelters around the area.

According to Best Friends, one of the largest no-kill animal sanctuaries in the U.S., the animals were moved out of "overcrowded" city shelters — including the Los Angeles County Animal Shelter in Lancaster — that have been heavily impacted by the L.A. fires since they began burning on Tuesday, Jan. 7.

"In the rush to evacuate a disaster such as the Palisades and Eaton fires, often pets can escape or become separated from their owners," Best Friends writes in its 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."

After they were packed into carriers and crates, the furry friends began their journey from California to Utah, where they would be taken in by Best Friends, located in Kanab, Utah, near the Arizona border.

Related: Los Angeles Man Stunned to Find His Dog Alive After 5 Nights Alone amid Fire Rubble: ‘Thank You God'

The charity organization Wings of Rescue — which helps to fly pets from shelters, disaster areas and other dangerous circumstances to safety — provided the transportation using its twin-engine turboprop plane. After all 84 crates had been loaded onto the plane, the pets were off to Utah.

Upon arrival in Kanab, volunteers and Best Friends staffers quickly moved the cats and dogs off the plane, getting them ready to be seen by veterinarians and receive lifesaving care before heading to the sanctuary.

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Just one day later, on Sunday, Jan. 12, Wings of Rescue flew another group of pets out of the county, this time to Seattle, to help Los Angeles area shelters — including Pasadena Humane and L.A. Animal Services — free up space for animals impacted by the wildfires.

According to Best Friends, both flights were supported, in part, by a donation from the Cencora Impact Fund.

For those with their own pets still in Los Angeles, Best Friends also shared that it has opened up two "pet pantries" to help pet owners feed their furry friends amid the still-raging wildfires. Per the sanctuary's website, pet owners can find these pantries at Best Friends Pet Adoption Center in West L.A. and the Best Friends Clinic in Granada Hills.

The destructive Palisades fire first began in the L.A. neighborhood of Pacific Palisades on Jan. 7, and has since burned more than 23,700 acres with 11% containment, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. On the other side of L.A. County, the Eaton fire also began on Jan. 7 and has already burned more than 14,000 acres. Additional fires have since sprung up in the Southern California area.

Click here to learn more about how to help the victims of the L.A. fires.

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