THOMPSON FALLS — Montanans are helping are helping with the aftermath of the California wildfires, one paw at a time.

The Thompson River Animal Care Shelter, (TRACS) is the latest local shelter to take in displaced dogs.

“One of the pieces with the fires that were so devastating is that, in that kind of a situation, it's really a cascading event that affects multiple states,” said Shane Booker, operations manager at TRACS. “It's really been amazing to see so many animals go to loving homes and it really is warms your heart that you're able to do that and save them.”

TRACS opened its doors, crates and arms to almost 50 dogs from California and Texas.

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To help shelters in California make room, dogs have gone all across the country to other rescues. Now, many of them are struggling with overcrowding as well.

“Dogs went from LA, went to Oakland and then have been transported to Texas or Nevada,” Booker said. “There's so many dogs and that kind of ripple effect across the pond and we're able to be able to help bring those dogs here to Northwest Montana”

To help ease overcrowding elsewhere, TRACS partnered with the organization "Dog Is My Co-pilot" to fly the dozens of dogs to their new home.

They arrived at the airport in Missoula earlier this week.

“One of the things that Peter, the founder of 'Dog Is My Co-pilot,' says is that they've rescued tens of thousands of dogs on flights, but he really counts that almost twice because taking one dog out of the shelter, and getting it to a place that can be adopted, frees up another spot for another dog to come in,” Booker said.

Plenty of staff and volunteers welcomed them to Montana, along with the new owners of three pre-adopted dogs.

Once in Thompson Falls, Booker said they can join the other pets at TRACS in getting ready for a new home and, hopefully, a better life.

“Getting them off the plane and getting them into vans so that they can take the two hour journey here to Thompson Falls where we can get them fed and watered and get them on their path to their forever home,” he said. “To really kind of help get them settled and know that they're in a safe place.”

With adoption events this week and more to come, they are hoping to make space for even more dogs. While they plan to bring in more from out of state,

TRACS is grounded in their community, taking in strays or pets from all over Northwest Montana.

“The group of people that founded TRACS, that was one of their passions, to be able to establish something here in the community because we just simply didn't have anything in Northwest Montana. Being able to do this here in Thompson Falls really has made a huge commitment to the community,” he said.

Watch related coverage: Montana animal shelters help out with California fires

“We many times will take in dogs that are in a situation where maybe somebody's had a medical issue and they're not able to care for their dogs anymore," Booker continued."

The shelter adopts out about 1,000 dogs a year. But, Booker said, that is only possible with the dedication of their staff, volunteers and the community. They accept help in the form of pets, money, leashes and more.

“We have a volunteer program where people can come and walk dogs or take care of dogs and cats. We also have a lot of people that just donate,” he said. “We have some puppies that came up from LA with Dog is My Co-pilot, we had somebody that was kind enough to donate $15 and they said ‘we want to help the mom and the puppies that are coming up,’ and every little bit helps.”

The shelter has lots of pets up for adoption, which can be viewed on their website.

“It'll bring more love into your life than you could ever expect. But, people that are thinking about getting an animal, it is a lifetime commitment and that's really important that we want to make sure that we're sending dogs to the right homes,” Booker said, talking about homes like one Parker went to.

“The little guy Parker that was charging at us and showing his teeth and then you turned out to be a wonderful dog in just three weeks' time of learning what love is," Booker added.