Northside vet receives many donations for LA fires; needs more space

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Veterinary Emergency Group (VEG) is in need of extra storage space after receiving an outpouring of donations from Tucsonans for the Los Angeles fire victims.

The clinic initially posted on Facebook about accepting donations for Los Angeles pets last Friday.

“We shared the post and it immediately blew up. Within an hour we were already receiving donations," said Hannah Noble, CVT and nursing manager at VEG.

Since donations are overflowing, VEG is now on the hunt for an enclosed trailer they can use outside of their building to store all of the goods.

“It’s always great to see the community come together despite differences or whatever is going on in the world," said Dr. Chelsie Narito, VEG's medical director.

The pain of losing a home to a fire is something Dr. Narito knows too well.

“I’m from Maui and we recently had the Lahaina fires," Narito said. "I do have some family that was impacted by that. I couldn't fly home during that time.”

While donations for L.A. are rolling in, storage space is limited. Dr. Narito is storing items inside her garage and a local U-haul is supplying a free 10x25 unit space in the meantime.

“So we are currently in the middle of moving all of the donations from our site, my house, into the storage unit and we're hoping that we can get those same items into maybe another U-haul or an enclosed trailer," Narito said.

VEG received a high amount of donations for humans and is requesting specific items for animals.

“Cat food, dog food, litter, kennels, dog beds. Those are the things we are trying to focus on right now," said Narito.

The VEG team will personally drive all of the donations to L.A.

If you'd like to donate to the VEG office, they're located at 7080 N. Oracle Road.