connection with another they would have the chance to meet.

“I got him! He’s mine!” called Sarah Finlay of Hollywood, who had her eyes set on a 5-month-old Labrador retriever with reddish hair. “He’s the cutest dog on Earth!”

“I’ve had Labs my whole life,” she said, having lost her 15-year-old, Jax, in July. “I really miss dog energy.”

Finlay said her new dog was found by the 210 Freeway and was probably lost in the fire.

“Because he comes from the fire, I thought I’d call him ‘Phoenix,’ ” she said.

“A friend sent me a picture and he just spoke to me … The fact that he was kind of off on his own on the 210 kind of made me feel compassionate for him,” Finlay said.

She and others shared about the joys of having a pet.

“I have a dog already,” said Emma Sheahan of Baldwin Park, but when she saw the news about the displaced animals, went over the benefits of adopting another pet and decided “It was a win-win.”

“They help your lifestyle because you have to walk them,” she said. “You’re just more clear mentally about being of service and having unconditional love.”

“I wish these dogs could get out and choose us, but they don’t get the chance,” Sheahan said.

Pasadena Humane, which has operated since 1903, took in 563 animals that were displaced last month.

“Because of the fire we have not had most of our operations going for the last month,” said Kevin McManus, public relations and communications manager for the organization.

“We wanted to do a 30-day stray hold,” he said, in order to give people from the burn area time to claim their animals. “We wanted anybody who was impacted by the fire to have more than enough time to come and collect their animals.”

The shelter is also continuing to take care of many animals that were brought in for shelter because the owners currently don’t have permanent places to live.

“That’s 200 animals whose families don’t have a home to return to,” McManus said. “For those 200 we’re holding them indefinitely,” including a collection of dogs, cats, parrots, rodents and reptiles.

As a consequence, he said space is tight at the shelter, which generally holds around 140 dogs and 50 cats.

“We’re counting on people coming in to adopt to keep that number down,” he said. “We just don’t have the capacity for as many stray animals as we would like.”

Jonelle Lesniak, who relocated to Glendale from Pasadena after the fire, is looking for a small dog, preferably of a breed she’s familiar with.

“I’ve been watching the development here and how many animals they took in, and it’s been really moving,” she said, studying the pictures that were posted of the dogs, but more interested in having direct contact with them.

“I want to meet a few dogs and see if one feels right,” Lesniak said. “I’m just a big ‘feel’ person.”

Given the space constraints, and the dozens of potential pet adopters who showed up Monday morning, the shelter would only allow people to see two animals per visit.

Selena Rivas of Los Angeles knows exactly the cat she wants — the one her sister and father discovered in Pasadena several days ago and brought to this shelter.

“He was really dirty,” she said, sharing a picture of the feline on her phone. “He had a cut on his nose. And they were able to grab him and they brought him here.”

Rivas said her family had their last cat, “Kitty,” for 15 years.

“We see it as this is a time to bring in another cat, another family member,” she said.

Jamesha Hagins of Pasadena was a little disappointed to find her top three picks to meet were already adopted by the time she arrived, but she was still contemplating others.

“I thought I’d help out,” she said. “It’s just so sad and unfortunate.”

“I just hope they all end up in loving homes,” Hagins said. “Everybody deserves to be with a loving family.”

Jarret Liotta is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and photographer.