As part of a life-saving operation for shelter animals, over 100 endangered dogs and cats were airlifted from Louisiana to New Jersey on Tuesday morning.
The Good Flights airlift, conducted by Greater Good Charities in partnership with Clear The Shelters, Hill’s Pet Nutrition and The Animal Rescue Site, included pets from overcrowded shelters in Alabama and Louisiana. Some of the rescued pets are considered hard-to-place or at-risk, such as large dogs, homeless cats and asymptomatic dogs with heartworms.
The more than 100 dogs and cats traveled by flight from New Orleans to Morristown in northern New Jersey, where representatives of new animal shelters took them in.
Eric Mullin/NBCU Local
The receiving shelters – located in New Jersey, New York, Delaware, New Hampshire and Rhode Island – will provide the animals with the necessary medical care before they are made available for adoption.
Eric Mullin/NBCU Local
“Good Flights is so important because they are able to transport pets in need out of parts of the country (where shelters are at capacity) and bring them to areas where the animals have a better chance of being adopted,” said Yvonne Hsu, President of Hill’s Pet Nutrition US. “And that’s really critical because we want to make sure we find a permanent home for every pet.”
This was the fifth airlift by Clear The Shelters, NBCUniversal Local’s pet adoption and donation initiative. More than 600 dogs and cats have been transported since the first airlift in 2021.
The latest relaunch comes just days after Clear The Shelters launched its 10th annual adoption campaign.
“We hope this flight and campaign will help bring more attention to these pets and the people who care for them,” said Erin Robbins, vice president of pet programs at Greater Good Charities.
“If we can tell more people, go to your shelters… Whatever you open your home and your heart to, it’s there waiting for you and all they want is love.”
Hill’s Pet Nutrition and The Animal Rescue Site funded the airlift and each gave Greater Good Charities a donation to the Clear The Shelters Fund. Greater Good Charities is Clear The Shelters’ fundraising partner.
Hill’s Pet Nutrition, the national sponsor and partner of Clear The Shelters, donated $50,000, while The Animal Rescue donated $25,000. Hill’s Pet Nutrition is also donating 5,000 pounds of food to the Alabama and Louisiana shelters where the animals come from.
Clear the Shelters is NBCUniversal Local’s pet adoption and donation initiative that has helped over one million pets find homes.
For more information about Clear The Shelters, visit ClearTheShelters.com and the Spanish language website DesocuparlosAlbergues.com.
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