As wildfires raged across Southern California last October, pet-related businesses and animal welfare organizations throughout the United States rallied to provide shelter and supplies for as many as 15,000 pets displaced from their homes:

• Camp Bow Wow Temecula (Temecula, Calif.) offered 15 percent discounts on boarding services and provided long-term boarding for displaced pets.
• Dog.com (Hazleton, Pa.) and its sister companies, including State Line Tack, Horse.com and Fish.com, matched $2 for every dollar donated by customers to help affected families and pets. At press time, the company hoped to ship more than $250,000 worth of supplies and aid.
• DogCatRadio.com (Los Angeles) delivered two tons of pet food donated by Natural Balance Pet Foods Inc. (Pacoima, Calif.) to owners sheltered at the San Bernardino Fairgrounds and Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.
• Flexpetz Inc. (Wilmington, Del.) launched Operation StopGap, calling on members of its dog-share program to provide free long-term care for displaced pets.
• OurPet’s Co. (Fairport Harbor, Ohio) and DockDogs provided the San Diego Humane Society with 62 pet crates and 1,120 pounds of cat litter.
• P&G Pet Care (Dayton, Ohio) donated 18,000 pounds of dog and cat food through its Friends for Life Funds to the Helen Woodward Animal Center (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) to support shelters and rescue groups in Southern California. The company also offered help to owners dealing with evacuation-related issues through its toll-free Iams Pet Helpline.
• The Petco Foundation, the charitable arm of Petco Animal Supplies Stores Inc. (San Diego), provided more than $200,000 to evacuation centers and animal welfare groups throughout San Diego County, and held a 10-day emergency “round-up” fund-raiser in stores. In addition, Petco employees donated thousands of hours of time helping customers, shelter partners and evacuation centers.
• PetSmart Charities, the charitable arm of PetSmart Inc. (Phoenix), dispatched two Emergency Relief Waggin’ trailers stocked with enough emergency supplies for up to 500 pets to Qualcomm Stadium. Banfield, The Pet Hospital, a PetSmart business partner, offered the services of its mobile emergency pet hospital.
Animal-related organizations raised funds, donated supplies, found temporary shelter for displaced pets and provided other services:
• The American Kennel Club (New York) and AKC Companion Animal Recovery sent hundreds of crates, bowls, leashes and collars to various parties in affected areas. They also accepted tax-deductible donations online.
• The Animal Legal Defense Fund (Cotati, Calif.), a nonprofit organization, offered foster care agreement and application forms online to support shelters and animal protection organizations with temporary custody of rescued and evacuated animals.
• Brown Dog Foundation (Nashville, Tenn.), established to help families in temporary financial need obtain life-saving treatment for pets, offered its services to families facing pet-health crises. It also collected tax-deductible donations online.
• The Humane Society of the United States (Washington) deployed more than 20 HSUS Disaster Services staff members to rescue horses, farm animals and pets affected by the fires at the request of the San Diego County Department of Animal Services.
• Petfinder.com (Silver Spring, Md.), an online database of adoptable pets, initiated a call center service to help displaced families find temporary homes for their pets. It also collected tax-deductible donations online.
• SPCA International (New York) created the SPCA Foster Home program to provide long-term care for companion and farm animals whose guardians were displaced by the fires for extended periods. The program placed animals in homes near their relocated families to allow regular visits, helped foster families provide food for pets in their care, provided animal deposits for apartments, and helped pay veterinary bills.
• United Animal Nations (Sacramento, Calif.), a provider of emergency animal sheltering and disaster relief services, gave grants up to $500 to help fire victims pay for veterinary care for fire-related injury or illness, temporary boarding and transporting animals to temporary living situations. [January 2008 PET AGE]