Protecting animals

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LAT photo

At about 5:30 p.m., a disaster response team with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals rolled up near the entrance to the Los Angeles Zoo, preparing for a possible evacuation. The team brought a horse trailer and a utility trailer equipped with nets and tranquilizer guns.

SPCA Capt. Dave Havard, whose crew numbered a half dozen, said they could take small birds and other animals no bigger than a llama or an emu. He said the birds were most susceptible to the smoke and that moving any of the larger animals would be difficult.

‘It’s not like they can pull a lot of animals from there unless they have big equipment,’ he said, as helicopters bombarded flames in the hillsides. ‘Big cats, elephants, all these big guys, they’re going to have to have a plan to handle that.’

-Paul Pringle