Dozens of small shelter dogs just found safe refuge in Montana through Best Friends’ Pup My Ride Los Angeles program.
The 53 included in this latest group are part of the some 2,500 small dogs and puppies saved from certain deaths from Los Angeles-area shelters since the program began in the fall of 2007.
While Robin Harmon, adoptions specialist for Best Friends L.A. Programs, says, “It’s sad there are so many overcrowded shelters,” she also points out that the program offers hope. A highway of hope.
Onboard the 1,200-mile transport from a Southern California shelter to the Help for Homeless Pets rescue group in Montana were a mama Chihuahua and her 3-week-old nursing puppies. Once in Billings, Montana, the mama and puppies went straight into a foster home together, Harmon says.
Also onboard for the September 6 trek were two former stray dogs found on the streets of L.A. No one adopted a young, small poodle mix, so the shelter scheduled her to be put down. “She is sweet and gentle,” Harmon says. “One eye is underdeveloped.”
Not a problem for Pup My Ride. Help for Homeless Pets was happy to take her in and provide the care she needs. So, she too was pulled from the shelter and added to the bunch headed north.
Another little dog was given a second chance after Harmon and her group discovered the frightened dog just in time.
“A little black-and-tan dog was going to be euthanized the day we were at the shelter because she was supposedly too scared,” Harmon says. “We took her out for a while and she played and played.” Harmon and volunteers asked for an extension of a week so the dog could be included on the trip north. The shelter agreed, and the 1-year-old longhaired Chihuahua mix went to Montana.
The 2,500 rescues are made possible through the Jason Heigl Foundation, which funds the transports in memory of TV and film star Katherine Heigl’s late brother — an animal lover — and the many volunteers who give of their time toward the day of No More Homeless Pets. Every two weeks, a transport heads up Interstate 15, which has been dubbed the “Highway of Hope,” carrying precious cargo to their forever homes.
Typically, 30 dogs every two weeks are pulled from L.A. municipal shelters and driven to the Humane Society of Utah in Salt Lake City. The program has also rescued about 50 small dogs from the Lied Animal Shelter in Las Vegas, where they also found homes through the Humane Society of Utah. And last year, they did several transports to Eugene, Oregon. Now, they’ve added the leg to Montana. “The trips will hopefully be monthly,” Harmon says, “weather permitting.”
The program began as a way to save some of the estimated 60,000 animals who are killed each year at L.A.-area shelters while filling a need in Utah, Montana and Oregon where there’s a demand for small dogs.
Now, these 53 one-time shelter dogs are the latest to have new starts in life, this time in Billings, Montana. “Everyone arrived safely,” Harmon says, “and Montana is thrilled with the dogs.”
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