Organization’s Disaster Relief Program on Overdrive as Transport Follows Intake of 37 Cats Impacted by Snowstorms in Louisiana
Salem, Mass., Jan. 31, 2025 – The MSPCA-Angell is readying to soon bring nine dogs impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires to Massachusetts, the organization announced today.
While this transport follows closely after the arrival of 37 cats affected by near-record snowfall in Louisiana, it was more complicated to put together, according to Josie Waldron, MSPCA-Angell relocation manager.
“Cross country flights are really expensive and hard to coordinate,” she explained. “The plane needs to be completely full, which is a huge number of animals—more than all shelters in Massachusetts and even New England could take in at once.”
“So, we needed to find somewhere in the middle for the flight to land—in this case Delaware—where many shelters and organizations, including us, could rendezvous and split up the animals.”
The dogs are scheduled to arrive the evening of January 31 on a flight arranged by Best Friends Animal Society. Upon arrival, the animals will be met by MSPCA-Angell vans that will bring them to the Northeast Animal Shelter (NEAS) in Salem, Massachusetts.
“It took weeks for this plan to come together, but dealing with the logistical challenges is well worth it to bring these dogs—who were living in shelters prior to the fires—to Massachusetts, where we’re confident they’ll find the loving homes they deserve,” Waldron added. “But, doing so will further increase our own population of larger dogs, and we definitely need help.”
Shelters Filling Up!
The California dogs—which range in age from roughly one to 10-years-old and include mixes of hounds, German shepherds, pit bulls, and cattle dogs—come from Pasadena Humane Society, where they had been living prior to the fires that have displaced thousands of people and pets.
“Obviously there’s a tremendous amount of need in the Los Angeles-area right now,” expounded Waldron. “Plenty of groups nearby stepped up to help and transported animals out of danger, but given the magnitude of the situation, more assistance is needed, and that’s where we come in.”
Following their hours-long flight, the dogs will be moved to MSPCA-Angell vans for the more than seven-hour journey to Massachusetts.
“Relief efforts in California will probably take weeks if not months, so it’s likely that we’ll have the opportunity to help even more animals in the future,” Waldron added.
“But, in order for us to do that, we definitely need people to come in and adopt, so we can free up space to help these new arrivals, as well as those we hope to help in the future, both in California and here in Massachusetts.”
Help These Dogs!
The California dogs will be available for adoption following their state-mandated 48-hour quarantine and after receiving any medical care they may need. Interested adopters are asked to monitor the MSPCA-Angell’s social media pages for updates.
“We would love for people to come out and adopt these dogs, but we also have a lot of amazing dogs already in our care looking for homes,” Waldron said. “If now’s not the time to adopt, we’re also looking for families who can foster dogs, which would allow them to decompress in a home setting while also freeing up space in our shelters.”
Anyone interested in fostering can learn more at mspca.org/foster.
Those interested in donating to help offset the costs of the transport and caring for these new arrivals may do so at mspca.org/disaster.