Pets Lost in L.A. Fires Are Being Reunited with Their Desperate Owners, Thanks to This Charity

Mar. 15, 2025

Pasadena Humane/Facebook

After nearly two weeks spent searching for animals in thedecimated fire zones around Los Angeles, Niki Dawson has long lost track of what day of the week it is.

But she can recall every detail of a moment that transpired several days ago, when she reunited a cat named Ziggy with his elderly worried owner, Sheila Silber, who had been unable to catch her beloved pet before being forced to flee herPacific Palisades home.

“You could see the look of relief on her face,” says Dawson — a volunteer with the groupPaws Of War, which provides dogs to soldiers suffering from PTSD — who found Ziggy hiding under a bed in a box spring inside Silber’s ash-covered, but still-standing residence.

“In all my conversations with her, she had been very stoic," she says. “But as soon as she saw Ziggy that façade just crumbled and she let her guard down.”

Dawson is part of a group of big-hearted volunteers who have swung into action since aseries of massive wildfiresbegan burning their way through parts of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 7.

L.A.-based emergency rescue specialist Austin Muhs assembled a team of volunteers to help evacuate and save animals during the recent wildfires.Courtesy Jenny Earhart (2)

Courtesy Jenny Earhart (2)

Some were forced to flee their homes so quickly that they had no chance to grab their panicked animals. Others were never able to reach their properties before the authorities sealed off their neighborhoods as the flames consumed everything in sight.

In many ways, Ziggy’s story is similar to dozens of other searches that Dawson — whose organization has provided oxygen masks to injured four-legged fire survivors — has performed in the days after the wildfires broke out.

For more on pet rescues during the L.A. firespick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribehere.

“Even the hardened sheriff’s officers celebrated with us,” says Dawson. “You could see a little smile on their faces, even if they didn’t really want to smile, because they’re pet lovers too.”

Not long afterwards, Silber, who feared that Ziggy had perished, was reunited with her beloved pet. “She just sank down and sat on the floor, petting him,” adds Dawson. “She was so happy. She told me, ‘It’s okay if I don’t back to my home for weeks. Wherever Ziggy is is home for me.’ "

Click hereto learn more about how to help the victims of the L.A. fires.

source: people.com