On the road!

One of our favorite things to do on the weekend is dog transports! This is actually where we got started fostering, we tried overnights first for transports and it grew from there! When people ask us what they can do to help animals if they're not in the position to foster I always tell them about transporting, or as I like to call it- the underground dog railroad.

There are tons and tons of packed shelters who are forced to euthanize highly adoptable dogs everyday. The best hope for these dogs to get out is to find a rescue who will take them in. Often the rescue is out of state so the dogs need to hitch a ride to safety. Transport coordinators spend hours upon hours mapping out routes for the dogs to take to their rescue. The route is then broken down into 60-80 mile "legs" and volunteers sign up for the leg they'd like to do. Once each leg is filled the transport is a go! Your job is to meet the driver before you, take the dog(s), and drive to the next volunteer where they'll take the dogs and so on until the dogs reach safety!

It's really not too hard, it doesn't take up much time, and most importantly you're playing a role in saving the life of a dog or dogs who otherwise would had a much less happy ending. Here are pictures from some of our favorite transports!

 Effie! Our first ever transport. 

Chadwick was our favorite overnight...who ended up being with us for about a month!

I really loved him! His heart was with Nick though.

All packed up and ready to go! 

Our most um, memorable transport. The sending rescue said they had 7 13-week old puppies for the transport. An overnight was needed so I said we'd do it. Well, as you can see below we were a little surprised when we met the transporter for the leg before us.  

Nick was really happy about this one....

 Waiting upfront before we had to hit the road. Those puppies wore her out!

Who can resist a transport full of little pups! 

Poor old Abby was stuck in the car with the puppies. Luckily we were able to give her some private space so she wasn't bothered too much.

If you're interested in doing transports the easiest way, in my opinion, is to join some of the transport groups on Yahoo Groups. You can check the messages section and see all of the transports they have for the upcoming week, as well as dates in the future. Check out the ones in your area and sign up! Some of my favorite groups are Roads of Hope, Dog Rescue Railroad, Animal Transporters, I-70 rescue and transport, I-95 rescue and transport, On the Road Again, Pet Travel, and Pet Transport. You can also opt to be on the email list if you prefer to receive transport listings that way.

Happy Transporting!