Canelo sat in a kennel at Pasadena Humane on Wednesday, his paws and legs wrapped in bandages as he nervously peered out from underneath the plastic cone wrapped around his head.
Canelo, a pit bull mix, sustained severe burns last week after he leaped out of and bolted from his owner’s car as they fled the Eaton Fire area.
“It must have been devastating for someone to have their dog in their car and get out into the fire — and then have to keep going with the fire right behind you,” said Kevin McManus, a spokesman for Pasadena Humane. “The way the fire broke out, it happened so quickly.”
Canelo was found in the fire area and reunited with his owner a few days later, but the dog is being temporarily housed at the shelter as his owner resettles after losing their house, Mr. McManus said.
Canelo is one of more than 700 animals that have been dropped off at the shelter in Old Town Pasadena since the Eaton fire broke out and devastated the community of Altadena. Of those, 150 are strays who were found in the fire area and need to be reunited with their owners. The other animals were dropped off by their owners who were displaced by the fire and need a temporary place to keep their pets.
“A lot of our pets, they don’t have a home to go back to right now,” Mr. McManus said.
Canelo’s owner could not be reached for comment.
Most of the animals are cats and dogs, along with rabbits, chickens lizards, a few goats and pigs and a giant tortoise. A gold fish was brought to the center in a stockpot, and a pony stayed overnight before being moved to a horse facility.
All the animals currently at the center were affected by the Eaton fire. Those at the shelter before the blaze broke out were transported to cities including San Diego, Santa Barbara and Sacramento.
The shelter has seen an uptick in volunteers and donations of food, bowls and leashes since the fire erupted. Emily Klonicki, a scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena that’s under evacuation, was volunteering on Wednesday. She saw a tortoise and two huskies get reunited with their owners.
“It’s inspiring to have these moments of hope and to watch these families come back together,” Ms. Klonicki said.
Diana Patel was talking with volunteers at the shelter about her parents’ lost cat, a 4-year-old brown- and gray-striped tabby named Blue Jay. Her parents’ house, her childhood home, was destroyed in the Eaton fire. They were able to evacuate with their three parrots, but Blue Jay was nowhere to be found.
“We ended up leaving her in the house hoping everything would be OK,” Ms. Patel said.
On Wednesday, Ms. Patel looked through a list of deceased pets and at pictures of the dozens of stray cats being held at the shelter, but none appeared to be Blue Jay. She’s hopeful her parents Tabby will turn up.
“Cats are sneaky, right?” Ms. Patel said. “So who knows? Fingers crossed.”
