Animals in need

I was going to introduce one or more of our own animals today, but instead, I'm going to discuss one of my causes. Now, I've been doing animal rescue transports for a while, and I've gotten fairly involved with the Grayson County Humane Society folks. These folks give tirelessly of themselves, monetarily and physically. They aren't the only people I transport for, but they are usually the first when I have more than one group needing transports. Transporting is an easy way to make a difference in the lives of animals that I otherwise couldn't do much for.


I've had varying reactions from people when I discuss my transporting, ranging from curiosity to anger.  I really can't understand the anger part, it's important to me that we help animals, and if we can get animals saved by moving them to a new area, then why shouldn't we? If the animals I transport were taking places other animals desperately needed, I could see that as an issue, but what we are doing is taking animals from a place that canNOT provide for them, and moving them to a place where there ARE resources available.

For those of you who have no idea how this works, it goes something like this: Animals need to get from one place to another for whatever reason. It can be a dog going from a rescue to a forever home. It can be several dogs going from a kill shelter to a rescue. It can be ferrets going from a shelter to a rescue. It can be mice going from a rescue to an adopter. Whatever the reason, these animals need to get from place A to place B, or they risk losing their lives.

First, a transport coordinator sends out an email (or bulletin, or whatever other method they have for contacting possible drivers) with details of the animals needing to be moved and the tentative 'Legs' of the trip. Usually each leg is around 50-70 miles (it can be more, or less, depending on the trip). Drivers then contact the coordinator to volunteer for a leg (or more sometimes) and give them the info needed. Once there are volunteers to cover the whole trip (oftentimes it fills up at the last minute), the coordinator sends out a Final Run Sheet. This sheet will have details about the animals, the actual info on each leg (usually including meeting places), and contact info for the drivers to keep in touch.

Each driver arrives at their meeting place (hopefully on time or early), and the animals and any accompanying paperwork is transferred from one vehicle to the next. Usually with dogs there is time for potty and getting a drink of water as well as a few minutes to give them some hugs and kisses, and take pictures. Then the drivers part ways, with one going on about their day, and the other going along to the next meeting place. That's pretty much it. With the transports I have been doing, we almost always share pictures and anecdotes about the trip later that night as well. At some point I'll start posting some of the pictures of animals I've been able to play a small part in helping.