Burned Paws, Breathing Struggles: Pasadena Humane Helped Hundreds of Animals Fleeing Wildfire in its Biggest Rescue Operation Ever
Just minutes after a firestorm ignited a swath of destruction through Altadena on January 7, the exodus began.
Through night and day, traversing a dark haze of ash and smoke, they came. A pony. A pot-bellied pig. An orphaned baby raccoon. Bobcats, goats, rabbits, lizards, goldfish, all manner of birds. And hundreds of cats and dogs. They escaped the Eaton wildfire, many brought in by their evacuating families and some by Good Samaritans who discovered them wandering the streets or laying in the rubble with grievously burned paws, singed fur, dehydration and breathing problems from smoke inhalation.
Their destination: Pasadena Humane, which provides animal rescues, wildlife rehabilitation and other services for 11 San Gabriel Valley city and county localities. With support from the California Community Foundation, the nonprofit helped 1,500 animals affected by the Eaton Fire, providing medical care, temporary emergency boarding, food and supplies.
Evacuated pony. Photo by Pasadena Humane Society.
Evacuated cats. Photo by Pasadena Humane Society.
Canelo, found with burned paws and later reunited with his owner. Photo by Pasadena Humane Society.
Emergency boarding goats, Cookie and Frankie. Photo by Pasadena Humane Society.
A grant from CCF’s Wildfire Recovery Fund helped the Pasadena animal center navigate the biggest emergency rescue operation in its century-old history. As animals filled the center, the quick infusion of CCF funds helped fill urgent and varied needs. A team of veterinarians provided life-saving medical care, with some animals needing multiple surgeries. Staff purchased many more kennels and converted meeting and training rooms into boarding areas. The shopping list also included special oxygen cages to help animals suffering from smoke inhalation breathe easier. Thousands of pounds of food, along with bowls, bandages, ointments and medications. And for animals left in the burn areas, water filtration systems for koi, feed for chickens, outdoor cameras to monitor the community cats and wildlife.
“It means a ton to have such great support from CCF,” said Kim Burbank, Pasadena Humane’s director of philanthropy and stewardship. “Especially in a disaster, you don’t know what’s coming next. We did not realize we were going to have the number of animals we did. We didn’t realize the scope of destruction. So a general grant like this is really supportive to be able to let us do what we need to do when we need to do it.”
The Pasadena animal center also reunited families with their missing loved ones. On that terrifying first night of wildfire, Mark Pastor and Lisa De Lange managed to round up two of their cats but a third, Skinny Minnie, was nowhere to be found. They had to make the heartbreaking choice to leave without her, as flames had reached their home with a heat so intense that it melted the back of one of the couple’s cars.
Unbeknownst to them, a Good Samaritan biking through the burn area two days later found Minnie under the damaged car in the rubble of her former home and brought her to Pasadena Humane. The grey cat looked black as she was covered with soot and ash, struggling to breathe and suffering from singed fur and severe burns on her face, paws, tail and ears. She was immediately placed in an oxygen kennel and over the next several days underwent multiple surgeries to address her burns, including removing the tip of her tail along with her claws, since they could no longer retract due to her damaged tendons. The medical care, which would have amounted to thousands of dollars at an outside veterinary clinic, was provided free of charge.
A few weeks later, Skinny Minnie had the good luck to be photographed with Adrien Brody, the two-time Academy Award-winning actor who volunteered for a day at the center. The photo went viral. At around midnight on Jan. 23, Pastor received a text of the photo from a friend. “Is this Minnie?” she asked. Pastor said he woke up De Lange and the couple recognized her immediately – “Oh my God, it’s her!” – and began to sob.
When Pastor went to see Minnie the next day, the cat heard his voice and immediately responded. She perked up, raised her head and began to meow. She lifted up her bandaged legs as if to say, “Look what happened!” Pastor said. And she began to eat in her kennel, which staff said she had been reluctant to do until then.
After five months of care, Skinny Minnie was able to rejoin her family in May, with the shelter staff sending her off with a party bag of her favorite toys. Pastor said she runs, jumps and climbs normally and is eating so well she’s developed a belly – and may no longer warrant her Skinny Minnie name.
“The care they gave Minnie was so above and beyond,” Pastor said. “With all of her surgeries and stuff, it was like they brought her back from the brink of death. You can tell that everyone there really loves what they do.”
A happy reunion also came for Canelo, a pit bull who panicked on hearing a propane tank explode and leaped out of the family’s car as they escaped the fire. He was later discovered laying in a smoldering yard by another evacuating wildfire survivor, who brought him to Pasadena Humane. Canelo was treated for burns and smoke inhalation; after nearly a month of care he got a tail-wagging reunion with his family, who saw his photo posted on the center’s website. L’il Man and Scooter, both cats brought in by Good Samaritans, were microchipped so finding their owners was easy – underscoring what center staff say is the crucial importance of placing that identity marker on pets.
Pasadena Humane staff also cares for animals with heartbreaking stories. Bruno, a four-year-old Cane Corso, was a beloved family pet brought in by his evacuating family. In the shelter, the black-and-white dog initially turned up his nose at kibble because he was used to the boiled chicken his doting family made him every day. Although they visited him often as they searched for alternative housing, they could not find a place willing to allow them to bring their 140-pound dog, said Kevin McManus, Pasadena Humane spokesman. The family, wanting him in a loving home rather than a kennel, surrendered him for adoption.
McManus said about 40 animals were surrendered for adoption, with a handful still in the shelter waiting for their forever families. Pasadena Humane is offering free services, including training programs, for those willing to adopt some of the animals that are harder to place.
“They’ll be here as long as they need us. We’ll take care of them,” McManus said of the animals. “We make sure that they’re living the best life while they’re here. We take care of all the health care, food, boarding, enrichment. It’s free of charge because of organizations like [CCF].”
Happily adopted post-fire. Photo by Pasadena Humane Society.
Happily adopted post-fire. Photo by Pasadena Humane Society.
Happily adopted post-fire. Photo by Pasadena Humane Society.
Happily adopted post-fire. Photo by Pasadena Humane Society.
To keep the animals happy and active, Pasadena Humane is building a new play yard with dig pits and water features and is also developing doggie group play days.
But McManus said the unmet needs are enormous. In the early days of the wildfire relief efforts, community members logged 2,500 volunteer hours in January alone. Financial contributions, along with donations of food, bedding, toys and supplies, flooded the center – including sewing circles in North Carolina, Texas and Tennessee that sent pet bedding. Partner animal welfare shelters in San Diego, Santa Barbara and Sacramento also helped out by taking in all of the adoptable animals at Pasadena to clear out space for those displaced by the wildfires.
Yet demand for assistance remains high. Pasadena Humane’s “Helping Paws” program, which provides pet owners in need with food, bedding, preventative medicine, cat scratchers and other items, normally helps 800 animals annually. But already this year, the program has assisted nearly 15,000 animals and given out more than 150,000 pounds of food. And McManus expects that need will continue as the recovery process could take years
“These people still need us,” McManus said. “They’re having to pay first and last month’s rent, or figuring out where to live. They may not be able to pay for their vet bills. So the things we are able to offer them are going to be life-changing while they can focus on rebuilding their lives.”
Moving forward, Pasadena Humane is planning to strengthen its emergency response plan and staff training. The center also hopes the public will continue its generous support.
“When the fire dies, the need doesn’t die,” McManus said. “If people could think of us every couple of months, that would be truly amazing because we can’t do it without our community support. And we’re going to need them more than ever.”
–Teresa Watanabe