Animal care providers have seen an uptick of pets left behind after hundreds have been swept up in immigration raids across Los Angeles.
But it’s not just enforcement operations that are separating families from their animals.
Families without legal documentation are also weighing whether to voluntarily leave this country, and that means figuring out who will look after their animals, and if possible, make arrangements to travel with their pets.
“If this is a natural outcome of those raids, then I don’t think we would stop seeing the animals coming in,” said Marcia Mayeda, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control. “For that reason, we’re telling people to have a plan if a person is worried that they may be subject to deportation.”
Mayeda and local animal advocates say it’s important to take steps now to ensure pets are safe and cared for in case their owners are suddenly unable to look after them.
Here are some things to keep in mind:
Write a biography of your pet
Mayeda recommends they write a biography of their pets, including their medical history and whether they’ve been spayed or up to date with their vaccines, as well as identifying the foods their animals like and don’t like.
“Are they afraid of thunderstorms? Do they hate cats? Do they love to play with other dogs? Do they like to go for a ride in the car? What kind of training have they had?” said Mayeda, listing questions they should answer in their pet bios.
“Whatever they would want a new owner to know about their animal, write it down, give a copy to somebody,” Mayeda said. “In case you’re taken into custody, you know, ‘OK, well my neighbor, or my brother, or whoever has this information, they know that the animal is going to be needing assistance.”
Make a plan to identify a safe caretaker for your pet
Mayeda said families should identify a person who can either permanently care for their animals, or who can take the pets to an animal care provider or a rescue group.
If families turn to social media for help, Marisol Ramos, who coordinates a network of volunteers that care for community cats in Boyle Heights and East L.A., recommends against posting about them on sites like Nextdoor or Facebook.
Giving away your pets for free on social media sites can put them in danger, Ramos said.
As an alternative, she suggests a site called Rehome, which is powered by the Adopt a Pet web service.
Through Rehome, users create a pet profile, review adoption applications and meet potential adopters. “You get to vet the person and talk to them. There is some openness to people who are understanding of the situation and are even more inclined to want to help,” Ramos said.
Learn the rules before traveling internationally with your pet
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service lists steps you should keep in mind if you are planning to take your pet from the U.S. to another country.
On its website, the agency notes you should contact a USDA-accredited veterinarian as soon as you decide to travel.
“They will help you determine your destination country’s pet entry requirements, including any needed vaccinations, tests, or treatments, and assist you through the process of obtaining a USDA-endorsed pet health certificate or other needed paperwork,” according to the USDA website.
The USDA hosts a database where you can find accredited veterinarians in your county and state.
Additionally, the USDA advises to look up the destination country’s requirements for pets, which can at any time. “You must verify the country requirements every time you plan to travel with your pet,” according to the USDA website.
Want to help?
The Community Animal Medicine Project in L.A., known as CAMP, has launched an emergency fund to “provide pets left behind with urgent, life-saving care.”
Soon after the raids started, CAMP, a veterinary and animal welfare organization, began seeing the ripple effects trickle down to animals, said Zoey Knittel, CAMP’s executive director.
In mid-June, a family came into a CAMP clinic after taking in an extended family member’s pug whose owners were deported. The dog had multiple large mammary tumors and needed urgent, life-saving care, according to CAMP, which was able to sponsor care within an in-house emergency fund.
Since the raids, CAMP has also reported an up to 30% increase in missed appointments and a decline in walk-in clients.
“Pets are experiencing the trauma, as well as their families. They’re the collateral damage. They are at risk of losing their homes, losing their routines, or even losing their person, their family, so they are definitely collateral damage from the situation with ICE,” Knittel said.
