Pasadena Humane has been sheltering hundreds of animals displaced by the Eaton Fire, with many successfully returning to their families. But over 100 pets have yet to be reunited.
“The reunions have obviously given us at the shelter a huge lift,” said Kevin McManus from Pasadena Humane. “There are a lot of stray animals that have come in over the course of the fire. And obviously, it was such a chaotic few days.”
Many of the animals arrived at the shelter with smoke inhalation, singed paws, burns, and dehydration. They have received treatment including fluids, oxygen, pain medications, and wound care as needed.
McManus said the process of identifying their owners and returning the animals home has been challenging due to the chaos surrounding the evacuation efforts, which led to many pets either escaping or being left behind.
“We are still facing over 100 stray animals who we have not be able to identify their owners, probably impacted by the fire, and so we are really pushing try to find as many of those animals’ homes,” he said, adding that the shelter has extended its stray hold, initially set for 21 days to 30 days to provide more time for owners to come forward.
“We right away knew that five days, which is kind of the norm in California, was not long enough. We’ve decided just a couple of days ago that we want to extend it even a bit further. We had decided at 21 days, but now we are going to 30 days,” he said.
McManus explained that microchipping has been invaluable in facilitating reunions. Over the past two and a half weeks, more than 400 animals have been reunited with their families thanks to the use of microchip scanners.
“The animals who are microchipped were oftentimes able to reunite them with their families without even taking stop at the shelter,” he said.
McManus said the shelter is currently caring for about 400 animals, with volunteers helping to ensure dogs get regular potty breaks and time outside of their kennels, while cats receive plenty of affection to reduce stress.
“We are really trying to make it . . . as safe and as homelike as possible,” he said.
After the 30-day period, McManus explained that they will need to consider adopting out any animals that have not been reclaimed. The shelter will first continue efforts to identify the owners and reunite families.
“At the 30-day point, we are going to have just understand that, for whatever reason, these animals’ families have not come to get them, which is an unfortunate and sad reality of any animal that comes into a shelter,” he said. “We will probably at that point start opening our adoption process again.”
For those who need to report found and/or lost animals or animals left behind in an evacuated home or property, call the Eaton Fire Animal Rescue Hotline at 626-577-3752.
For those looking to help or find a missing pet, click here or visit the Pet Connect page to search for your missing pet. Pet owners may also scan the QR Code that appears below.
