{"id":626591,"date":"2026-03-02T09:58:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T09:58:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/626591\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T09:58:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T09:58:48","slug":"pets-needed-help-during-l-a-fires-a-new-bill-aims-to-assist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/626591\/","title":{"rendered":"Pets needed help during L.A. fires. A new bill aims to assist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the Eaton fire consumed an Altadena street, one family loaded their furry loved ones into a truck to evacuate \u2014 including Canelo, a dog with white-and-caramel fur.<\/p>\n

Then, about three or four houses down, propane tanks exploded. Spooked, Canelo broke out of his collar and ran toward the fire. His humans searched for him as the blaze raged, but came up empty.<\/p>\n

The ordeal was all-too-common<\/a> during the deadly, destructive firestorms that seared Los Angeles County a little more than a year ago. As the disaster unfolded, many families frantically tried to find their pets, or put off evacuating because they didn\u2019t want to leave them behind. Hundreds of animals were ultimately killed, injured or displaced.<\/p>\n

Now, a new federal bill with bipartisan support has been introduced to beef up emergency preparedness for pets in the event of natural disasters like wildfires or hurricanes. <\/p>\n

The Providing Essential Temporary Shelter Assistance for Emergencies<\/a> (PETSAFE) Act would expand the allowable use of existing emergency management funds to also cover veterinary supplies or crates to transport pets, as well as fund development of an animal response team or other kinds of training.<\/p>\n

States and local governments could apply for the competitive grant funding. The proposed legislation would increase the federal government\u2019s share of the payment from 50% to 90%.<\/p>\n

Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) was among the lawmakers who introduced the legislation this month. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) is spearheading companion legislation in the Senate.<\/p>\n

Proponents say the goals of the legislation are to make sure communities are prepared to quickly reunite animals with their owners and to bolster coordination among emergency responders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the Eaton fire tore through my district, so many families were forced into an impossible choice,\u201d Chu said in a statement. \u201cAs a result, many families delayed evacuating because they couldn\u2019t bear to leave their pets behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chu\u2019s office visited an animal shelter in the wake of the Eaton fire and encountered a gray cat with severe burns on its face and all four legs. She was able to pet the cat, gently. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think that moment meant a lot to her,\u201d Claire Berry, a spokesperson for Chu\u2019s office, wrote in an email.<\/p>\n

In the case of Canelo, Good Samaritans found him and brought him to the Pasadena Humane Society, where veterinary staff tended to his badly burned paws and smoke-irritated eyes. He eventually reunited with his family. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe house, really, to be honest with you, doesn\u2019t matter to us,\u201d his guardian, Steve Rodriguez, says in a Pasadena Humane video<\/a>. \u201cWe really just wanted to make sure that everybody was all right. I can\u2019t buy another Canelo. I can\u2019t buy another of my mom or my dad.\u201d<\/p>\n

As proposed, the bill \u201cimproves preparedness and removes unnecessary cost barriers, so states and local governments have the flexibility they need to protect animals, families and first responders during hurricanes and other emergencies,\u201d said Florida GOP Rep. Vern Buchanan, who is co-sponsoring the legislation.<\/p>\n

Kevin McManus, a spokesperson for Pasadena Humane, said the nonprofit had responded to disasters in the past, but still needed a lot of equipment during last year\u2019s fires as animals flooded in. The nonprofit cared for more than 3,200 fire-affected pets \u2014 including a 200-pound tortoise named Huckleberry \u2014 and is still supporting a handful.<\/p>\n

One of the organization\u2019s greatest expenses during the fire was specialized veterinary equipment, such as oxygen kennels.<\/p>\n

According to McManus, it would probably be harder for rural areas \u2014 where animal control might be part of a local police department \u2014 to acquire such things. He said this bill would allow agencies to stockpile crates so they don\u2019t have to scramble when disaster strikes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnimals will be saved because the equipment is already there in place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said Pasadena Humane was able to assist animals at a Red Cross evacuation center during the Eaton fire. Funding through the bill could potentially allow the city of Pasadena to provide supplies like dog crates directly to the aid group, streamlining the response. <\/p>\n

McManus suggested that people\u2019s love for their furry, feathery or scaly companions transcends party lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe things that are dividing us aren\u2019t our love for our pets and wanting to make sure our pets are safe and our pets stay where they should be, which is with their families,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the Eaton fire consumed an Altadena street, one family loaded their furry loved ones into a truck…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":626592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[23],"tags":[4749,17281,267679,267681,119739,2693,5810,746,246,267682,2934,181883,267680,10823,44528,159,67,132,68,267683],"class_list":["post-626591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-animal","tag-bill","tag-canelo","tag-chu","tag-crate","tag-disaster","tag-eaton-fire","tag-environment","tag-family","tag-kevin-mcmanus","tag-legislation","tag-new-bill","tag-pasadena-humane-society","tag-pet","tag-preparedness","tag-science","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-veterinary-supply"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116158998977629178","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}