Mission Viejo Animal Services has been helping with Palisades Fire response

Mission Viejo Animal Services (MVAS) deployed teams of Animal Control Officers to help respond to the Palisades Fire and provide support after a mutual aid request from Los Angeles Animal Services.

Since January 16, MVAS Animal Control Officers have been offering vital assistance in evacuating animals, helping injured wildlife, and caring for animals in the evacuation zones.

Led by Animal Services Supervisor Kyle Werner, MVAS Animal Control Officers arrived on the scene equipped with pet supplies, water, and animal control vehicles. The teams immediately begin evacuating animals from affected areas and ensuring the safety and care of the animals that remain in the evacuation zones. Along with domestic animals, officers have tended to injured wildlife including a severely burned bobcat, which was transported to a local wildlife rehabilitation center for treatment.

The Mission Viejo team, which returns home this week, has offered help and hope to many and even helped to save a family’s koi fish, the only things that remained on their property destroyed by the Palisades Fire.

“We have a Koi expert here and are using the tank donated by a tractor supply to perform a water transfer and the koi extraction,” Werner said. “A family lost everything except for their koi fish. We are grateful to be able to help save them.”

While field teams manage animal rescues, Werner supports the Incident Management Team by coordinating the response efforts of animal services agencies from across California. Mission Viejo takes pride in assisting partner agencies during emergencies. This is the fifth wildfire MVAS has responded to following the 2020 North Complex Fire in Butte County; Caldor Fire in El Dorado County in 2021; Coastal Fire in Laguna Niguel a year later; and last year’s Airport Fire in Rancho Santa Margarita.

“These collaborative efforts not only provide critical aid to communities in need but also strengthen relationships with agencies nationwide and enhance MVAS’s preparedness for emergencies closer to home,” said Animal Services Director Brynn Lavison.