Brad Pattison

As bushfires continue to ravage Australia, an animal rescue team from Kelowna, B.C., is gearing up to go down under in about a week to try to help save wildlife. Ecologists estimate that approximately 480 million animals have died due to the fires, which have burned over five million hectares of land. Kelowna local Brad Pattison, dog trainer and former host of the TV reality show At the End of My Leash, will be joined by four other team members, to go to the Melbourne area where they will be working with some local organizations and sanctuaries to try to help dehydrated and injured animals. “My team is going down to help retrieve animals that will need help being rescued physically, but also there is a lot of work that needs to be done in these sanctuaries and rescue organizations because they’re just tapped, the people are exhausted,” he said.