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The flight touched down at Hayward Executive Airport at 11:45 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 17, and as the gates opened, the runway erupted in a symphony of barks. Greater Good Charities had successfully transported dozens of shelter animals from Southern California to the San Francisco Bay Area, including Redwood City and Palo Alto, in the wake of the Los Angeles fires.
“Anyone who is experiencing an emergency or a tragedy, it’s really hard to care for animals and people at the same time,” said Michelle Suarez, a behavior and rescue manager with Pets in Need, the Peninsula-based nonprofit animal shelter. “So any support that can be given to people and animals who are in distress is super important and valuable.”
Greater Goods Charities is a global nonprofit that relocated 48 pets on an emergency flight to find them new homes and support overwhelmed shelters in the greater Los Angeles area.
The transported animals were not rescued from the fires but were pets already available for adoption in the Southern California area. The purpose of the flight was to create space in those shelters so they could, in turn, take in animals from fire-affected shelters. This process helps shelters near the fires accommodate displaced animals in need.
“So for us to be able to help the animals in Los Angeles, we sort of played chess a little bit and moved animals around,” said Nina Thompson, the director of public relations at San Diego Humane Society.
According to Jeremy Colborn, the director of animal transport at Greater Goods Charities, the flight transported 46 dogs and two cats from San Diego Humane Society and some other SoCal shelters.
Four Bay Area shelters stepped up to support Greater Good’s mission – Pets In Need, East Bay SPCA, Humane Society of Sonoma County and Marin Humane.
The flight departed from Gillespie Field Airport in El Cajon and made its first stop at the APP Jet Center located at Hayward Executive Airport. The receiving shelters carefully loaded the animals into their vans and took them back to their facilities. There, the animals were assessed for any necessary follow-up medical care before being made available for adoption.
Out of the 46, Pets in Need welcomed a 3-year-old Siberian husky Nolan and a 2-year-old mix of shepherd and husky, Skyla, to its Palo Alto shelter. It also welcomed an 8-week-old Siberian husky named Torro to its shelter in Redwood City on Friday.
Nolan is now in a foster home, and Torro has also been moved to the Palo Alto shelter after being spayed. Both the dogs will be available for adoption soon.
Pets in Need has been a part of the Peninsula community since 1965. Its volunteers transfer cats and dogs to their facilities from public shelters in the Bay Area and beyond when they are in danger of being euthanized due to space or financial limitations.
According to Laura Birdsall, the director of Medical and Behavioral Services at Pets in Need, it costs about $700 to $800 on average to care for an animal for 10-14 days. She added that in addition to donations, community members can contribute to L.A. relief by opening their homes either through adoption or fostering.
“These animals have been through a tremendous amount of stress,” Birdsall said. “So be it a foster home or an adoptive home, these guys really just need a break.”
As for the flight, its next stop was Portland, Oregon, where the Oregon Humane Society welcomed the remaining animals onboard.
“We know this is not going to be the last flight, so we’re hoping to see more of these in the future,” said Colborn.
