As catastrophic fires continue to rage in Southern California, destroying homes and prompting evacuation orders, animal shelters in the area are struggling with a wave of new arrivals, forcing many of them to seek help from sister shelters outside the region.
One such place in Portland, One Tail at a Time, took in seven dogs on Sunday from Los Angeles.
“It’s really important for other organizations to step in and be able to help with the animals that were already in the Southern California shelters so that there is that space [available for new arrivals there],” One Tail at a Time’s executive director Juli Zagrans told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “It makes all the difference in the world.”
The Portland no-kill shelter, which has been operating since 2015, doesn’t put rescued animals into kennels. Instead, Zagrans said, the shelter relies on volunteers who care for the dogs in their own homes. She added that One Tail at a Time provides all of the necessary supplies and pays for veterinary costs until the shelter finds the animals a permanent home through its adoption center in Northeast Portland.
One Tail at a Time typically has 30 to 40 dogs in the program at any given time, she said.
Over the weekend Zagrans received an email from a California shelter asking for help in housing several animals they no longer had room for, and she quickly sent out a message to the people in One Tail at a Time’s foster network, she said. Seven people volunteered to immediately take a dog into their care.
Zagrans said that getting the dogs from Southern California to Portland quickly took the help of another nonprofit organization, called Wings of Rescue, which airlifts rescued animals across state lines.
Natalie Mesa-Smith, who fosters dogs for One Tail at a Time, was ready when the organization’s plane landed on Sunday.
“It was something I always wanted to do, because we had a senior dog who was my soul dog,” Mesa-Smith said of fostering animals. “When she passed I was, like, ‘I want to give this opportunity to other dogs,’ and now we’re on our 14th foster.”
Mesa-Smith’s new foster dog, a roughly four-month old puppy named Venice, arrived with the six other dogs who were rescued by One Tail at a Time.
Venice will be up for adoption on Saturday, January 14.Courtesy of Juli Zagrans
The plane touched down at the Troutdale airport around 3 p.m., and the dogs were off the tarmac and safely in their respective homes in less than two hours, Mesa-Smith said.
After just a couple hours at her foster home, Venice was coming out of her shell.
“She was already ready to party,” Mesa-Smith said. “She is a napper and a player, so there’s those very happy peaceful moments and the very chaotic moments that come with puppies.”
The seven dogs from the Los Angeles area will be finished with their veterinarian checkups and put up for adoption by this weekend — and they will be present at an adoption event at One Tail at a Time’s center on Saturday. Zagrans added that they will likely take in more dogs from the LA area soon.
“Our mission is to improve the lives of companion animals,” Zagrans said. “We do that by providing them with a safe home with the medical care that they need, and really the chance to have the life that they deserve in a home.”
— Tatum Todd is a breaking news reporter who covers public safety, crime and community news. Reach them at ttodd@oregonian.com or 503-221-4313.
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