SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Humane Society's Emergency Response Team left Monday, August 14, for an eight to ten-day deployment to Maui.
The team will help with search and rescue efforts for animals that were impacted in Maui's devastating wildfires. It will also help with animal care, sheltering of large and companion animals, as well as transports.
According to the Maui Humane Society, there are roughly 3000 missing and displaced pets following the deadly and historic wildfires.
"It's not good," said Summer Piper tearfully, one of the team leads for the San Diego Humane Society's Emergency Response Team. "These types of deployments are hard, I've been to Hurricane Ian and to a lot of fires. The human component is very difficult. People come up to you, they're missing their animals. Or you go there specifically because you're trying to find animals to help them, and you find animals in conditions that it's very difficult to see."
Piper said the reason the San Diego team was asked to step in and help is because of its training and experience dealing with wildfires.
They also have specialized fire gear including helmets, boots, jackets, and respirators.
"Right now the ground is still really hot, there's lots of toxins. We have special personalized protective equipment that we have as part of our fire team here so we're going to respond as search and rescue initially and then it may transition to other types of animal care," she said.
If you would like to donate to the San Diego Humane Society, click here. Piper said some of your donations go toward paying for the equipment they use to respond during disasters.