Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (Jan. 23, 2025) – With fires popping up in parts of San Diego County, it may be easy to forget about the absolute devastation experienced across Los Angeles County only weeks ago. Throughout the challenging weeks, Helen Woodward Animal Center has worked closely with shelters in the area, coordinating more than 10 separate trips north to provide animal supplies, necessities for humans, and veterinary assistance to affected areas. Now, as new fires begin to ravage the area once again, orphan animals affected by the tragedies are seeking a safe haven. Today, Helen Woodward Animal Center is making another trip upstate to return with the first batch of many pets from SPCA LA. For this reason, the Center is currently seeking fosters to help with the urgent intake.
Experts believe the fires erupting across Los Angeles since January 7th are fueled by powerful winds and extensive drought conditions, resulting in a perfect and devastating storm of apocalyptic proportions. The unprecedented result has been the destruction of thousands of structures, including hundreds of homes, and the death of at least sixteen people. In the tragedy, people lost everything they owned, including their pets.
Lost and injured animals by the hundreds (labeled “community animals”) have been taken in by area shelters with reunification events scheduled throughout the coming weeks. With only the highest of hopes of uniting these pets with their families, the truth of the circumstance is grim. Even if owners are found, the likelihood of these families having a place to take their pet home to is slim-to-none.
“The work these shelters are doing to care for the community animals is truly amazing,” said Helen Woodward Animal Services Director Kendall Schulz. “The heartbreak that most people don’t realize is that, with the kennels full of community pets, there is simply no room for the regularly scheduled influx of orphan pets that arrive at these shelters each week. SPCA LA, like Helen Woodward Animal Center, pulls animals from high-kill facilities and if they don’t have the ability to do it, these lives are lost.”
SPCA LA has specifically requested assistance taking in orphan pets who would face euthanasia without a facility to turn to. Beginning today, Helen Woodward Animal Center will start welcoming the first grouping of these pets, with the Center anticipating the rescue of dozens more orphan pets in the weeks ahead.
To ensure that Helen Woodward Animal Center will be able to take as many of these rescue pets as possible, the Center is urgently seeking fosters. By opening up a foster home to orphan dogs and cats for a period of time, it allows the pet to receive medical care, spays and neuters, vaccinations and other necessities requiring down-time, while keeping kennels open for pets ready to find their forever families. Foster families – in essence – open up kennel space, allowing the Center to take in more pets. Ultimately, foster families enable the Center to save MORE lives and help MORE animals in need. Best of all, Helen Woodward Animal Center provides our fosters absolutely everything they need to take care of these temporary fuzzy residents, from food, to bedding, to crates, to toys, to puppy pee pads. Fosters simply provide the space and the love.
For more information on fostering for Helen Woodward Animal Center, and to fill out a foster application, please visit https://animalcenter.org/get-involved/volunteer/foster/ or call (858) 756-4117 x375.
FOSTER REQUIREMENTS:
- Must be at least 18 years old.
- Must have driver’s license and working vehicle to transport pets to and from the Center for routine and emergency appointments.
- Must live within range of one of our San Diego emergency veterinary partners.
- Fill out a foster application and watch the training video.
- Must agree to a virtual home check by a foster program representative.
WHAT YOU WILL DO:
- Provide in-home care for pets assigned under the foster program and return the pets to the Center on the date specified.
- Drive foster pets to their medical appointments at Helen Woodward Animal Center
- Keep current, accurate Foster Animal Care Logs for all fostered pets, including…
- Weight,
- Medication,
- Behavioral records for the foster pets while in your care,
- Present the log(s) whenever bringing your foster pets to the Center.
For more information on Helen Woodward Animal Center, please visit https://animalcenter.org or call (858) 756-4117.
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About Helen Woodward Animal Center
Helen Woodward Animal Center is a private, non-profit organization where “people help animals and animals help people.” Founded in 1972 in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., the Center provides services for more than 90,000 people and more than 10,000 animals annually through adoptions, educational and therapeutic programs both onsite and throughout the community. Helen Woodward Animal Center is also the creator of the International Home 4 the Holidays pet adoption drive, the International Remember Me Thursday® campaign and The Business of Saving Lives Workshops, teaching the business of saving lives to animal welfare leaders from around the world. For more information, go to: https://animalcenter.org.
