Pacific Palisades resident Casey Colvin wasn’t home when the January wildfire started. Despite the area being under an evacuation order, Colvin desperately tried to return home to save his two dogs. But he was stopped from entering the evacuation zone.
In his stead, a fire battalion chief went to Colvin’s home but only managed to retrieve one dog.
Colvin’s home burned down that night, and for several anxiety-filled days, he could only hope that his second dog, a Pomeranian named Oreo, was still alive.
Then came the long-awaited news: Oreo had been spotted. When Colvin returned to his property, he found Oreo in the driveway.
That moment when the jubilant owner and pet reunited went viral.
Oreo’s story has since inspired a Southern California legislator to introduce a bill to strengthen pet rescue efforts during disasters.
Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, D-Hollywood, is the author of AB 478, or the FOUND Act, which stands for Friends of Oreo Uniting During Disasters.
The bill would require cities and counties to update their emergency plans to include a process for rescuing pets in a mandatory evacuation zone. Local governments would have to post on their websites information and resources related to pet evacuation and reunification assistance, including a list of rescued animals so that pet owners looking for their pets have a place to turn to.
In addition, AB 478 would require all rescued pets to remain in the custody of a local animal control agency for at least 90 days before they can be adopted out, euthanized or transferred to another facility. The current minimum holding period is 72 hours, but increasing it to 90 days would give owners searching for their pets more time to reclaim them.
He views his bill as not only looking out for animals in an emergency, but for their owners as well. If evacuated residents know there is an established process for reuniting with their pets, they would be more likely to follow those protocols as opposed to trying to sneak back into a mandatory evacuation zone to retrieve their beloved animals.
“Pets are considered loved members of the family. … People will go to great lengths to protect the safety and health of a member of their family,” said Zbur, who previously owned two dogs.
He acknowledged that extending the minimum holding period for rescued pets at shelters may pose a challenge for overcrowded facilities and said details of the bill could be amended as it works its way through the legislative process.
But the idea is to support those going through crises.
“Our goal is to make sure that families facing these tragedies have as much time as they can before their pets will be euthanized or put up for adoption,” Zbur said.
Judie Mancuso is the founder and president of Social Compassion in Legislation, which advocates for legislation that saves and protects animals and is a sponsor of Zbur’s bill. She said that during the recent L.A.-area wildfires, many pet owners were still at work or out of town when mandatory evacuation orders were issued, and they didn’t have a chance to return home to retrieve their pets.
“For some of these families, they lost everything. Getting their pet back would be everything to them. If you’ve never had an animal, think of somebody you love and replace that with a cat, a dog, a turtle. They’re not a prescription pair of glasses. These are sentient beings. They deserve to be saved,” she said.
Mancuso recalled how she helped rescue animals after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and saw similar challenges then with pet owners trying to reunite with their beloved animals. Twenty years after Hurricane Katrina, she said, California can lead the way when it comes to pet rescues during a disaster.
“It just shows you how lessons haven’t been learned and it’s time,” Mancuso said. “We have to be the model.”
AB 487 has been referred to the Assembly Emergency Management Committee for review, though no hearing date has been set.