Emergency response
When the Red Cross calls, our vans roll.
In partnership with the American Red Cross, the Foundation deploys mobile spa vans to LA evacuation centers after wildfires and other disasters — for the pets and the families recovering together.
When a disaster hits LA
Wildfire season is now year-round in Southern California. When evacuation orders go out — Eaton, Palisades, Woolsey, the next one we can't yet name — families pile what matters into a car and drive away from everything else they own. The pets always come.
An evacuation center is loud, crowded, and stressful for everyone. The dogs and cats who arrive there are often covered in ash, smelling of smoke, frightened, and ungroomed for weeks. Their owners are dealing with everything else.
That's where we come in.
Our Red Cross partnership
When the American Red Cross opens an LA-area evacuation center, we get a call. Our mobile spa vans deploy within hours — to whatever parking lot, school gym, or convention center the Red Cross has activated. We groom pets on-site, for free, for as long as the center is operating.
For evacuated families, it's one small thing taken off the list. For their dogs, it's a clean coat, a moment of normalcy, and a way to actually look like themselves again after a week in evacuation chaos.
What we've responded to
Recent LA-area deployments have included:
- Eaton Fire (2025) — Altadena evacuation centers
- Palisades Fire (2025) — Westside evacuation sites
- Smaller-scale brush fires and apartment evacuations across LA County
Every event our vans show up to is funded entirely by donations to this program. The Red Cross provides the logistics; we provide the grooming, supplies, and the groomers. The evacuated families don't pay a cent.
If you're at an evacuation center right now
If you've been evacuated to a Red Cross center in LA County and your pet needs grooming, just ask the on-site Red Cross staff whether the Hollywood Rescue Grooming Foundation team is on the schedule — or call us directly at (310) 476-3353. We'll either be there already or we'll let you know when.
If you run an emergency-response organization
If you're with the Red Cross, the LA County Office of Emergency Management, a faith-based response group, or another organization that supports evacuated families and you want to add the Foundation to your response roster, please reach out: info@hollywoodrescuegrooming.org. We'd love to be on more lists.