One of my transports, Bubba & Brandi, are having a feature story written on them and their journey. The newspaper asked for a write up and our own wonderful, Kelsey Glander, wrote this. I thought I would share. Driving down the highway, you see all sorts of sites. Families going on vacation, people driving to work, and some driving just to drive. But if you pay close enough attention you might just notice that some who seem to be “driving just to drive” have a larger mission at hand. They are animal rescue transporters. They have been up for hours, packing the car and readying their supplies. They have loads of leashes, fresh water, treats, and soft blankets ready to go. They get into the car with a smile on their face and head to a pre-determined location, sometimes hundreds of miles away, to pick up a dog (or 10) and head down the road to the next spot. This is exactly what happened this weekend when 15 drivers, 2 sleepover hosts, and 1 week long foster came together to drive over 1,957 miles of transport divided up into 24 legs from Petaluma, California to Houston, TX for Bubba and his service companion Brandy. Seem like a lot? These 24 legs are just the first half of their trip and they will continue next weekend. Bubba is a 120lb deaf pitbull who suffers from seizures and requires religious medication. Brandy is his best friend and service companion who never leaves his side. She is his ears, his confidence, and his protector. Together they create quite the pair. Their tongues lolling out, they give their pitty smile to every driver as they are passed down the line, each time one leg closer to their final destination, one leg closer to happily ever after. Each weekend hundreds of volunteers come together from across the country to make trips like these possible. Many of them have never met each other, but though a nation wide network of animal lovers, they unite under one mission: to give a deserving soul a second chance. Every year, millions of animals find themselves in a municipal shelter, facing euthanasia, but because of animal lovers across the country, many are giving a second chance to live out their lives in a foster or forever home. Kindred Hearts Transport Connection helps make this possible. When the second chance seems too far to be possible, KHTC steps in and helps make that distance a little shorter, by setting up volunteer relay leg transport to rescues, fosters, and forever families across the country, and even into Canada. An all volunteer group, KHTC assists hundreds of animals every year in reaching their happily ever after. The volunteers sign up to drive a portion of a transport through their area based on their availability. There are some drivers who can only donate 2 hours of their time to fill a leg, and others who volunteer to drive multiple legs of transport to help an animal get to their destination. These volunteers are only paid in doggy kisses, and the feeling they get when they return home knowing that because of them, another animal is safe. To many, animal rescue seems like a daunting and depressing activity to commit to; full of sadness, regret, and empty wallets. While this can hold true to some aspects of rescue, the transporters find that the good outweigh the bad by miles (both literally and figuratively!). By the time an animal arrives in the hands of a transporter, it has surpassed all odds, made it out of the shelter, and is on its way to a second chance. Transporters like to say that they specialize in happy endings. Animal transport brings light to the dark tunnel that can be animal rescue. It might seem impossible and impractical that an animal’s second chance is thousands of miles away, but through a little teamwork, patience, compassion, and a lot of love, animal transporters make the impossible a reality.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Apr 2014 01:54:04 +0000
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