The Amazing Pet Transport System

By Cheree Miller
I took part in a pet transport Saturday. It was the first one I have participated in, not because I haven't wanted to before, but because either the legs near my location were filled, or I was already booked on the day of the transport.

For those of you who don't know what a pet transport is, there is a whole network of rescue folks across the country who arrange for transportation to get animals from one place to another -- many times across multiple states. That was the case on Saturday.

Two beautiful pit bulls, Hazel and her son Benne, needed to get from New Iberia, LA to Minneapolis, MN. Both are incredibly sweet dogs. They were being transferred from a temporary boarding facility to a rescue. Unfortunately, Pit bulls frequently end up dead in our southern shelters, and we wanted to make sure Hazel and Benne avoided that fate.

I don't get to go to the "big city" of Little Rock very often, so I thought this would be a great outing for me, my son Nick, and my nephew Michael. We headed into Little Rock early so that we could do some mall shopping and grab a bite to eat.

It's amazing to me how quickly an event like this can be organized. The trip was broken down into 19 legs of approximately 1 to 1 1/2 hour duration, then emails were sent out to rescue groups along the route looking for volunteers. If you were were able to take one of the legs, you simply replied to the email. If you weren't, you forwarded it on to someone else. I emailed Jan with Furry Friends and she was happy to take the Russellville/Ft. Smith leg so that we could cover the two Russellville legs (to and from). The first email went out on April 9th. The transport took place on April 19th -- a mere 10 days later.

Everything went off without a hitch. I had the name, vehicle description, and cell phone number of the person I was meeting in Little Rock, and we communicated a couple of times late morning/early afternoon to confirm the schedule and exact meeting place. Each leg of the journey had a 15 minute "potty break" figured in for passengers. Just enough time to introduce yourself to the person you were meeting, transfer the dogs and their belongings (food, leashes, paperwork, etc.), and walk the dogs.

Hazel and Benne were very sweet, and the perfect passengers. (It still amazes me that all pit bulls are branded as "bad" because of a few bad owners.) It was exciting to read the emails from others along the route before and after my Little Rock Run -- and especially the ones from Sunday when the transport was complete and Hazel and Benne were settled into their new digs. They were on the road from 6:00 AM Saturday until 8:00 PM Sunday (they did get a break from their road trip Saturday night).

What a truly amazing group of people. Just lets you know what a little bit of love, concern, and coordinated effort can accomplish. I was pleased and proud to be part of the effort. We may not be able to save them all, but these two sweet dogs definitely deserved a chance to have happy lives as faithful companions. I'm glad I was able to play a small part in seeing that they got one!