Best Friends Animal Society, Wings of Rescue Fly Pets to Safety During California Fires

To provide direct relief to communities affected by the blazing California wildfires, Wings of Rescue, in partnership with Best Friends Animal Society, is making an emergency flight of more than 80 pets, transporting them to Kanab, Utah, where Best Friends operates the nation’s largest no-kill animal sanctuary.

The lifesaving airlift will help reduce overcrowded conditions in shelters impacted by the wildfires and free up space and resources. In the rush to evacuate a disaster such as the Palisades and Eaton fires, often pets can be escape or become separated from their owners. It then becomes the work of first responders and shelter workers to find and secure these lost pets until they can be reunited with their owners.

Best Friends Animal Society, a leading national animal welfare organization working to end the killing of cats and dogs in America’s shelters in 2025, has been closely working with Los Angeles based animal shelters and rescue groups to provide aid and help increase pet lifesaving. As the leader in the no-kill movement, Best Friends has been in unpredictable situations before and knows how to navigate them making them a uniquely fit partner. The organization also operates the Best Friends Pet Lifesaving Center in West Los Angeles, where they are currently operating a Pet Pantry for affected Angelenos.

The Wings of Rescue twin-engine turboprop plane will be waiting at the Hollywood Burbank Airport on January 11 for Best Friends transport vehicles, which will contain pets pulled from the Los Angeles County Animal Shelter in Lancaster.

Wings of Rescue flies only pressurized, temperature-controlled aircraft and has saved over 75,000 pets since its inception in 2012. The nonprofit responds to disasters and transports pets from overcrowded shelters to those where there is empty kennel space and willing adopters. All pets are medically cleared for travel and several safeguards are built in to avoid ever transporting a pet that is simply lost.

On Sunday, January 12, Wings of Rescue will make a second flight from Hollywood Burbank Airport with a load of pets headed to Seattle, Washington. Both flights are supported in part by a donation from the Cencora Impact Fund.