PETA slams Mayor Bass, city for 'disastrous failure' to animals after Palisades Fire
PETA is calling out Mayor Karen Bass and city officials for their "disastrous failure to save animals after the Palisades Fire."
In a new video, PETA claims the city wouldn't allow a PETA team into the fire zone to rescue animals.
Bass' office says the city, with help from the ASPCA and other organizations, has rescued more than 1,000 animals.
LOS ANGELES - A new video from PETA calls out Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other city officials for what they called their "disastrous failure to save animals after the Palisades Fire."
The organization claims the city turned away one of their teams offering to rescue animals, but the city says Los Angeles Animal Services and other organizations have rescued more than 1,100 animals from the Palisades Fire burn area.
What they're saying
PETA criticized what it called a lack of preparedness for the fire, and a slow response to helping animals left behind in the wake of the Palisades Fire. They claim that pets were left out in the rubble for weeks before the city did anything about it.
"Many animal companions who survived the fires wandered the rubble for weeks, terrified, hungry, and alone, while L.A. Animal Services ignored their families' desperate pleas for help saving them," said PETA Director of Outreach Ashley Byrne.
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The organization also claimed that the city turned them away when they offered to send a team into the burn zone to rescue animals.
"We had a FEMA-certified disaster response team ready to go in and save animals," said Simone Reyes, Vice President of Social Compassion in Legislation, which worked with PETA.
The other side
Bass' office responded to PETA's claims on Thursday. In a statement to FOX 11, the office said that Los Angeles Animal Service worked with several other organizations including Social Compassion in Legislation, which was included in PETA's video, to rescue more than 1,000 animals in the area.
"More than 1,000 animals have been reunited with their owners and work continues to reunify the remaining animals, or to find them new homes," the statement said, in part.
What's next
Now, PETA is demanding the city come up with a emergency plan specifically to help animals before another disaster.
The Source
Information in this story is from a press release and PSA from PETA and a statement from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass' office to FOX 11.
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