MONTEREY COUNTY >> Local animal shelters are doing their part to help care for animals impacted by the fires in Los Angeles. The SPCA Monterey County has taken in 11 animals to free up space for displaced animals in LA County. Peace of Mind Dog Rescue in Pacific Grove also answered a call for help and took in four dogs over the weekend.

After historic fires have ravaged Los Angeles and left many animals displaced, shelters have been working overtime to care for and take in new animals. On Saturday, teams from the local SPCA and Peace of Mind Dog Rescue separately traveled down to Los Angeles to lend a helping hand.

The SPCA team brought back five dogs, one kitten, one cat and four puppies. Peace of Mind visited four impacted shelters and brought four dogs back with them to Pacific Grove, according to a news release.

“The fires in Los Angeles are devastating,” said Scott Delucchi, SPCA Monterey County president and CEO in a news release. “We know all too well how disasters can impact pet owners given our recent experiences here, and we are here to do anything we can to help the shelters who are working so hard to rescue and care for animals. Our hearts are with everyone affected by this horrible disaster.”

The pets with the SPCA will be available for adoption starting Tuesday. The new Monterey County residents include: Lyle, a one-year-old terrier mix, Ben Jr., a 14-week-old tabby kitten, Winter, a one-year-old pug and Gemma, a four-month-old pitbull mix puppy.

Peace of Mind drove down to LA early Saturday morning and drove back late Saturday night. The dogs were walked and fed upon their arrival and will be going to foster homes this week, then put up for adoption.

“It was heartwarming to see so many organizations and individuals step up to help,” said co-founder and advisory board member, Monica Rua in the news release.

All of the animals were previously housed in shelters in the LA area before the fires. By taking in these animals, both shelters have opened up space for Southern California shelters to house animals that have been affected by the fires.

“Whenever there’s a major disaster like this, we all want to help each other out,” said Beth Brookhouser, vice president of marketing and communications. “When we had the fires here in 2020, other shelters opened their arms to our adoptable pets so we could turn our entire shelter into an evacuation center. We want to do the same for our friends in Southern California.”

SPCA Monterey County is also offering its animal rescue team to help assist in fire areas. “We know this is sadly going to be a long recovery so we are on-call to respond whenever anybody in the area needs a break or they need to call more people in,” said Brookhouser.

In the face of the fires, the SPCA Monterey County is urging people to be prepared to take care of their pets if and when disaster strikes.

People should create a disaster plan and kit for their family, including food, toys, vaccination records and collars for pets.

For more information, visit https://www.spcamc.org/ and http://www.pomdr.org/.