An aerial view of the Los Angeles Equestrian Center against a backdrop of thick wildfire smoke the day after the start of the Eaton and Palisades wildfires. The facility took in hundreds of horses evacuated from the fires. Los Angeles Equestrian Center, Burbank, California, USA, 2025.
Thomas Machowicz / Sanctuary Doc / We Animals
Almost five years ago to the day, I stood in the charred remains of a eucalyptus plantation looking for survivors. In 2020, the cataclysmic fires that swept through south-eastern Australia wiped out an estimated three billion animals. This sombre moment in history, devoid of birdsong and rustling leaves, felt like the beginning of an unprecedented next chapter in the story of climate change. And indeed it was.
Since then, fires have consumed vast stretches of the Amazon, Canada’s western provinces, and California.
Photographers: Thomas Machowicz, Jo-Anne McArthur, Nikki Ritcher, Renata Valdivia, Anonymous

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals

Nikki Ritcher / We Animals

Cows grazing near Goose Lake in Vernon BC. Thick smoke from the White Rock Lake wildfire billows in the background. Vernon, British Columbia, Canada, 2021.
Anonymous / We Animals

Renata Valdivia / We Animals
Burn sites are quiet, even more so when they are vast. They make you feel quiet inside, too, as though disturbing the silence with talk, or even footsteps, denigrates what has happened. The sound of my camera’s shutter felt like an intrusion; each click highlighting my presence, and the sordid forensic work necessary at what felt like a crime scene.
When the Australian wildfires ravaged the country in 2020, I worked with Animals Australia to document the toll on both wild and domestic animals. I also accompanied Vets for Compassion as they spent long hours doing search and rescue. It was grim work. With each new dawn, surviving animals would be growing weak from their wounds, or slowly starving because the vegetation they forage had gone up in smoke.

An Eastern grey kangaroo and her joey who survived the forest fires in Mallacoota. Mallacoota Area, Australia, 2020.
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals
One photograph I took that day has now been seen by millions. It’s of a kangaroo and her joey standing in a eucalyptus forest, now in ruins. The photograph became an opportunity for people to see the victims of those fires, eye-to-eye.
But there were other images, ones I rarely share. The bloated body of a dead kangaroo. A charred ungulate, their features erased by flames. Rescuers scanning blackened treetops for koalas still clinging to life.

A deer who died in the forest fires in Mallacoota. Mallacoota Area, Australia, 2020.
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals
With all the loss, there were small victories too.
The Vets for Compassion team managed to find, sedate, and rescue a handful of starving koalas who were transported to rehabilitation centres. So few were saved in the grand scheme of things. But I had to remind myself that each rescue meant everything, the difference between life and death, to those lucky few.
At the time, the fires seemed pivotal, a moment that might finally compel us to reckon with the climate crisis we’ve created. These wildfires felt like a collective awakening, a chance to declare, never again.

An injured echidna is sedated and treated for injuries at Southern Cross Wildlife Care. Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia, 2020.
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals

An injured possum receives treatment at Southern Cross Wildlife Care for severe burns caused by the bushfires. Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia, 2020.
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals

Koalas feel much more secure when they can hold on to something tightly. When koalas need to be examined at Southern Cross Wildlife Care, they give them a teddy bear to cling to. This koala was orphaned in the bushfires and is recovering from wounds. Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia, 2020.
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals
Five years later, climate fires continue to annihilate the Earth’s forests. Climate crisis after crisis captures our attention as lives and homes are destroyed. Not just our homes, but those of mammals, birds, amphibians, and insects. We must not forget the animals amidst the disasters that upend us. They too are stunned and afraid. They too seem to have nowhere to turn. And like us, they will find it hard or impossible to relocate. Unlike us, survivors will starve or be killed.
Still, our climate policies lag behind what science demands. Meat and dairy consumption continues to rise. Forests, the lungs of our planet, and the homes of countless generations of animals are being erased at a pace that both shocks and numbs us.
This month, we collectively watched as the city of Los Angeles hardly stood a chance against embers and winds that create infernos. It was a collision of human carelessness and a climate out of balance.

Thomas Machowicz / Sanctuary Doc / We Animals
Photojournalists are still adjusting to the cornucopia of environmental disasters and animal abuses that need documenting. As with all major events, pictures and videos bring home the message, make stories real, and ideally inspire action.
One video from the fires has stayed with me: a social media video of a fawn, bewildered and alone, wandering a burning street in the Palisades neighbourhood, looking left and right, sparks falling around her, moving forward but unsure of where to go and what to do.
I see you, I thought. And I hope, against all odds, that you found refuge, or that someone came to your aid.
How many others, just like her, are caught in these disasters, their survival dependent on us taking action?
In Los Angeles, animal shelters are overflowing with displaced companion animals. Reports say they are crowding shelters, as though they are at fault. Wild animals, meanwhile, have nowhere to go. Unlike us, they cannot evacuate, rebuild, or begin again. Where can they go? Who, in the end, will survive?

Samantha speaks sweetly to her horse, Bela at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. Bela was evacuated in the early hours of the morning from the Eaton Dam Stable, which burned down a few hours later in the Eaton Fire near Pasadena. Los Angeles Equestrian Center, Burbank, California, USA, 2025.
Thomas Machowicz / Sanctuary Doc / We Animals

Evacuated horse Pancho Villa stands with his human, Ismael Gonzalez, who talks on a mobile phone, outside the Rose Bowl Stadium during the Eaton Fire. Ismael and his son evacuated Pancho Villa and a friend’s horse, walking them for an hour until they were out of the evacuation zone. Pasadena, California, USA, 2025.
Thomas Machowicz / Sanctuary Doc / We Animals

The Eaton Dam Stables burn in the Eaton Fire. Some horses from this stable were evacuated to the Los Angeles Equestrian Center which is serving as an emergency large animal shelter. Eaton Dam Stables, Pasadena, California, USA, 2025.
Thomas Machowicz / Sanctuary Doc / We Animals












We document, we create records of this time in history so that we can see, and do better. There is a lot we can do to reduce fires and help all life thrive. Each and every one of us can make individual changes that make this a safer place for us all.
We cannot let the Los Angeles fires be another forgotten lesson. There is hope, but it requires action—and that action is long overdue.

A temperature gauge with the needle melted at over 140 degrees fahrenheit, within the fire decimated town of Grizzly Flats. Grizzly Flats, CA, USA, 2021.
Nikki Ritcher / We Animals
What We Can Do Right Now to Help Prevent Fires
- Climate policy matters. Believe climate scientists and vote for leaders who will act.
- Reduce our consumption of animal products. Animal agriculture is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Research from Oxford University shows plant-based diets produce 75% less climate-heating emissions, water pollution, and land use than diets rich in meat. There is still time to sign up for Veganuary.
- Consume less. Hyper-consumption demands enormous resources. Thrift, borrow, repair, and reuse. The planet’s resources are finite, and we must live within its means.
- Rewild our spaces. Whether it’s a backyard or a city park, creating space for native plants and animals helps restore biodiversity and repair ecosystems.
- Drive less. Fly less. Transportation remains a major contributor to climate change. Carpool, bike, walk, or take public transit when possible.
Organizations to Support in the California Fires
- Animal Wellness Foundation: Providing shelter for animals in need
- Pasadena Humane: Offering refuge for displaced animals
- Best Friends Animal Society: Fostering animals in need of homes
Photographer: Thomas Machowicz, Jo-Anne McArthur, Nikki Ritcher, Renata Valdivia, Anonymous
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