Arianna Buturovic kept a wary eye on distant smoke from the rescue shelter she runs outside Los Angeles for dogs at risk of being euthanized. Within hours, nearby mountains were ablaze and fire began encircling her.
“I stuffed 15 dogs in a black Prius and two cats,” she said.
As she still had nine more dogs and a pig to evacuate, Buturovic flagged down some 18-year-olds with a truck who agreed to take them to a shelter. She could not bring two ponies with her, but she left the corral open so they could escape if needed.
Photo: AP
“That’s how we evacuated almost 30 animals,” she said. “It was crazy.”
Buturovic is one of many animal owners in Los Angeles who scrambled to get themselves and their beloved companions out of the way of fast-moving wildfires that killed at least 16 people and burned more than 12,000 homes and other structures this week. It has overwhelmed shelters, which have implored people to find friends or family to foster their pets.
The Pasadena Humane Society took in 250 pets in the first day after the fires started.
Photo: AP
Los Angeles County Animal Care was looking after 97 pets — mostly cats and dogs but also pigs, a turtle, a bird and a snake, department spokesman Christopher Valles said.
Veterinarian Annie Harvilicz had been moving out of an old Animal Wellness Centers office in Marina del Rey, but inspired by her brother’s need to find a place for his pets, she turned the exam, X-ray and surgery rooms into an impromptu shelter.
She took in 41 dogs, cats and a bunny and soon found foster homes for all. but two, she said.
She told people on Facebook to contact her if they needed a place for their animals. She expected an onslaught of pets needing refuge, but instead has been inundated with people wanting to volunteer.
“I’m very proud of the people of Los Angeles and how I really feel like they’ve stepped up to the plate when it comes to helping out each other,” she said.
Some people wanted Harvilicz to take their donkeys, but she was not able to get a trailer to them before they had to evacuate.
Difficulties transporting larger animals puts them at greater risk from wildfires, she said.
Buturovic took some of her canines to Harvilicz’s old hospital and others to a friend’s home in Venice.
By the time she returned to the Topanga ranch on Wednesday morning, it had burned. The cement building that withstood two or three other fires since the 1950’s was covered in soot, its roof gone and windows blown out. Her ponies disappeared, along with two semi-feral dogs she fed.
“I don’t know where we’re going to go from here,” she said.
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