Emergency Response Stories

Volunteer Toni Dorsey and another person unloading pet food from a truck

Rising up for pets every day and when disaster strikes

Meet a Best Friends volunteer in Arkansas who goes the extra mile — literally — fo...
Invaluable member of the team
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Cat pulling a toy

The cat who meowed in the face of disaster

From the heart of Texas comes a kitty with a big heart and a bigger purr....
From floodwaters to the spotlight
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Pepper the dog outside standing on green grass beside a home

Faces of No-Kill: Dog with cloudy eyes has sunny future

Pepper came to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary with some health issues, but with vet...
Pepper has blossomed
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Three people rescuing two dogs in a boat

Hurricane Katrina, 20 years later: What we saw, learned, and how animals fare better today

A solemn remembrance of the catastrophe that changed us all. Twenty years ago t...
Hurricane Katrina was lifechanging for the rescuers and reshaped disaster response within animal welfare itself
Julie Castle Blog
Photo from the perspective of being in a vehicle, with a Beware of Dog sign reflected backwards in the windshield with a dog running in the street surrounded by destroyed houses

How Hurricane Katrina changed animal rescue forever

Twenty years later, lessons from the storm response still guide Best Friends and t...
A storm that changed everything
Best Friends Magazine
Lucky the cat sitting on a wooden floor

Faces of No-Kill: Cat thrives after surviving wildfires

After escaping the L.A. wildfires with burned paws and singed whiskers, Lucky went...
Now he's a lucky cat with a lucky family
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Pixie the dog on a dog bed under a blue plaid blanket

Happy life for dog evacuated from L.A. fires

It wasn’t magic alone that brought about her adoption — it took coordination, hard...
Pixie is now living out her fantasy
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Freya the puppy with tongue out sitting on green grass

Meet some of the pets from flooded areas in Texas

From fluffy kittens to pint-sized puppies, pets from flood-impacted shelters in Te...
The pets from Texas are settling in just fine
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Animal Services Officer carrying a dog over their shoulder in a kennel area

Best Friends answers the call

Amid devastating flooding, Texas shelters are moving adoptable pets to safety — gi...
We can help in ways that have both immediate and lasting impact
Julie Castle Blog
Person grabbing honey the kitten in a carrier from her flight transport from Texas flooding

Uniting to rescue pets after Texas floods

Best Friends joins efforts to bring hope and safety to dogs and cats after devasta...
Collaboration and compassion saves lives
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Britt the dog wearing a jacket holding a large stick in her mouth

Senior pup finds her smile again

Britt came to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary shrouded in a cloud of anxiety. Now sh...
She's thriving in her home-between-homes
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Person holding a calico cat

How animal groups teamed up to save L.A. pets

Best Friends Network Partners answered the call for help to move pets out of harm’...
Stories of awe-inspiring teamwork
Best Friends Magazine
Dog in create for a flight transport following the Los Angeles fires

An unexpected reprieve in shelters after the L.A. wildfires

Thank you for supporting our second home....
A look back at the Los Angeles wildfires
Julie Castle Blog
Tara Pope on a rock cliff with arms outstretched

L.A. fire evacuee finds hope at Best Friends

When Tara Pope fled her home to escape the L.A. fires, she found an unexpected hav...
Best Friends offers hope
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Smiling person wearing a protective gown holding Wally the Girl the dog

Tiny dog with broken leg helps heal broken hearts

For Wally the Girl, a 5-pound pup with an unstoppable spirit, a chance meeting led...
It was meant to be
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