We began our transport program on December 3, 2014 with the PetSmart Charities® Rescue Wagon®. Our very first transport was to the Fox Valley Humane Society in Appleton Wisconsin. We transported via the Rescue Waggin® through July 2016 when PetSmart Charities changed their focus and ended their transport program.
During that time, we transported 1,141 dogs and puppies to 16 different shelters in Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and Ohio. Even though the PetSmart Charities® Rescue Wagon® stopped transporting in July 2016, through the support of PetSmart Charities, ASPCA’s Sally Silverman Rescue Ride and California’s Wings of Rescue our transport program continues!
The Mobile SPCA, working through the ASPCA, transports dogs and puppies to several destination shelters in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New Jersey and soon, Massachusetts. The destination shelter picks up from us in Mobile or we meet the ASPCA transport van in Birmingham and the ASPCA drives the dogs to their new homes up North.
Our most exciting transport was on August 7 when we transported 98 dogs and puppies to Pennsylvania on a Wings of Rescue jet! The ASPCA coordinated the transport, shipped us crates and all the other supplies we’d need to pull off this feat! The staff got to the shelter at 3:30 AM put dogs in kennels, loaded them on trucks, cars and minivans and were at Brookley Field just before 5:00 AM.
We quickly got the dogs on the plane and off of the tarmac before the heat of the day set in. The jet took off about 6:00 AM and landed in Pennsylvania just 4 short hours later! The Brandywine Valley SPCA was ready and waiting with 10 vehicles and tons of volunteers and staff ready to swiftly unload the dogs and puppies and get them back to the five shelters that would eventually spay or neuter them and find them new forever families.
Through the transport program we are able to take tons of dogs and puppies from County, City and Prichard animal shelters as well as private owners. Another plus of the transport program is that it allows us to take large breed dogs and puppies along with the popular small breeds. We would not be able to take many large breeds but for the transport program since it would be nearly impossible for us to find homes for them locally.
To increase our capacity we work closely with our municipal shelters. If the dogs come to us with at least one set of vaccines they are healthier and can be transported more quickly and with less investment on our part. We are also letting the shelters know when space will be available so that our kennels are not empty for more than 24 hours. We also maintain a “waiting list” of dogs and puppies so that once a transport leaves we will be ready to intake a new batch.
We continue to focus on our foster program and desperately need more foster homes. When an owner is relinquishing a litter of puppies we make absolutely sure that the parents, if they can be found, are altered before we accept the litter. If the puppies are in a safe-place we try to get the owners to keep the litter in their home until shortly before transport. We provide all of the medical care, food and supplies; the foster home provides the love and manpower. By doing this we are able to help more litters and the puppies stay healthier out of a shelter environment.
Numerous organizations help with this program but, even with their help, it would not be possible without you. Your donations buy vaccines, dewormer, prevention, medical care and food, as well as pays for staff, utilities and shelter expenses. Because of you we can give these animals the care they need to get healthy enough to find “the-best-homes-ever”!
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