Best Friends Deploys Vehicles, Supplies to Fire-Ravaged California
Kanab, UT (October 24, 2007) A climate-controlled truck filled with animal crates, dog handling equipment and supplies has been deployed to southern California, where for the last four days, wind-whipped fires have raged a wide area between Los Angeles and San Diego. Best Friends Animal Society has staged resources in Irvine, Calif., in response to a request from the City of Irvine's Animal Care Center.
"We've dispatched resources to the area so that Best Friends, if necessary, can help evacuate animals out of emergency situations," said Paul Berry, chief executive officer. "Our vehicles also have the capability to move water, supplies, and provide other help as needed."
Francis Battista, one of the founders of Best Friends Animal Society who has worked for many years in southern California animal with welfare groups and shelters, is with the Best Friends team.
"We're staged so that our resources are as close as possible to potential areas of need," Battista said. "And we're ready to go if there is a need to move animals or set up some sort of emergency shelter."
Best Friends has a history of providing aid in natural disasters and other emergency situations that affect animal safety. The society helped save the lives of 6,000 animals during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A Best Friends team is working in Peru to relieve animal suffering in an area devastated by earthquakes. The Society also airlifted dogs from war-torn Lebanon, and has been involved in significant rescues of animals from puppy mill and animal hoarding situations throughout the United States.
About Best Friends Animal Society
Best Friends Animal Society operates the country's largest sanctuary for homeless animals and is home, on any given day, to about 1,500 dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, birds, and other animals. Best Friends works globally with animal shelters and rescue groups to bring about a time when there will be no more homeless pets. Best Friends advances initiatives nationwide that promote community approaches to make the world a better place through kindness to animals, including adoption, spay-neuter, and humane education programs.
"Kindness to Animals Builds a Better World for All of Us"
