Calgary animal organization heads for Los Angeles with donations for pets affected by wildfires

Wildfire help Parachutes for Pets is delivering supplies to California rescue groups helping animals displaced by the wildfire.

Leaders of a Calgary animal organization headed for Los Angeles early Sunday morning to lend a helping hand to people whose pets have been traumatized by the wildfires in that city.

Parachutes for Pets executive director Melissa David and vice-president of operations Lauren Fettig were loading a truck with supplies to take to Los Angeles when CTV News spoke to them Sunday morning.

The organization reached out to Calgarians earlier last week, asking for donations of litter, litter boxes, dry dog and cat food, treats and cash to help pet owners who have lost their homes.

Not only did they receive an overwhelming amount of donations, but someone offered the use of a private jet to get it there that much faster.

What’s more, both David and Fettig say they’re going to go on a 72-hour volunteer shift to help relieve exhausted volunteers who have been on the go since the fires erupted earlier this week.

“We are excited to get down there and allow some volunteers to sleep in their own beds and have a day or two to process what they've seen and jtake care of themselves,” David said.

David said her organization unfortunately has prior experience dealing with pets displaced from wildfires.

“We have dealt with a couple of large wildfire evacuations in the past couple of years here with Jasper and Yellowknife and Calgary being an evacuation point," she said. "So we were kind of, you know, boots on the ground.

“We know what it's like,” she added.. “When a couple organizations reached out to us, we immediately knew we wanted to help.”

Fettig added that they will do their 72-hour volunteer shift, then play it by ear.

“We've had experience here with wildfires in the past, so this is something we can help with," she said. "We just want to save as many pets as we can and give a helping hand to all of those organizations and volunteers to give them a little bit of a break, you know, so they can recoup and recover a little bit.”

The duo took 800 pounds of supplies, which Fettig said was as much as they could fit in the cargo hold of the plane.

They said they also have trucks heading to L.A. and are working with a few American shipping companies to get supplies to pets in need.

As for what else Calgarians can do to help those pets, Fettig said cash always helps.

“The best thing you can do is donate online,” she said. “Money is going a long way now, especially with providing vet care for those pets who have been injured from the fires.”

For information about how to donate, go here.