ASPCA Teams Up With Pilots N Paws for Pacific Coast Rescue Event

NEW YORK--The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) today announced that it is teaming up with Pilots N Paws to transport more than 170 dogs from shelters in Southern California to shelters in Oregon and Washington in multiple operations scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 27, 2013 and Tuesday April 30, 2013.

On the morning of Saturday, April 27, the first set of approximately 73 animals will leave Los Angeles Animal Services' West Valley Shelter and Best Friends Pet Adoption & Spay Neuter Center - where they've been housed and prepared for transport - and will be brought to the Long Beach airport. They'll be loaded onto 22 planes flown by Pilots N Paws volunteer pilots as they begin the voyage north. Upon arrival in Fresno, Calif., the dogs will board a second set of 13 planes and Pilots N Paws volunteer pilots will fly them the rest of the way to northern California.

After landing at the airport in Redding, Calif., the dogs will be met by a ground transport funded by the ASPCA and driven by volunteers and staff from Kitsap Humane Society in Silverdale, Wash. After walks, dinner and fresh water, the dogs will then be driven overnight to Kitsap Humane Society and Seattle Humane Society (in Bellevue, Wash.), where they will arrive and settle in by Sunday morning. The dogs eventually will be put up for adoption in Washington.

In addition to this exciting flight event, a ground transport carrying an additional 100 dogs will leave Riverside (Calif.) County Department of Animal Services a few days later on Tuesday, April 30. This transport, funded by the ASPCA and provided by California organization S.T.A.R.T. Rescue (Shelter Transport Animal Rescue Team), will deliver dogs to various organizations and rescue groups in Washington and Oregon (see below for a complete list of participating organizations).

"The ASPCA is excited to partner with Pilots N Paws and all these wonderful source and destination shelters and transport groups to save the lives of these dogs," said Kristen Limbert, director of animal relocation for the ASPCA. "We're proud to be able to safely bring them up to the Northwest, where they are more likely to find homes than in southern California. We would never be able to do this without the collaboration among these organizations. It's amazing the difference we can make for animals when we all work together."

"Pilots N Paws is honored to be working with the ASPCA, our partners Subaru and Petmate, and numerous rescue organizations to fly these abandoned animals to safe havens," added Debi Boies, co-founder of Pilots N Paws.

This transport event would not be possible without the participation of the following organizations: Subaru of America; Petmate; Los Angeles Animal Services in Los Angeles, Calif.; Best Friends Pet Adoption & Spay Neuter Center in Los Angeles; Kitsap Humane Society in Silverdale, Wash.; Seattle Humane Society in Bellevue, Wash.; Riverside County Department of Animal Services in Riverside, Calif.; S.T.A.R.T Rescue (Shelter Transport Animal Rescue Team) in Valley Village, Calif.; Heartland Humane Society in Corvallis, Ore.; Luv A Bull in Eugene, Ore.; My Way Home Dog Rescue in Sandy, Ore.; Safe Haven Humane Society in Albany, Ore.; Smidget Rescue in Auburn, Wash.; Snipped in Coos Bay, Ore.; Willamette Humane Society in Salem, Ore.; Hopes Haven in Salem, Ore.; Puget Sound Rescue in Auburn, Wash; R.A.I.N. Rescuing Animals in Need in Federal Way, Wash.; Signature Flight Support of Orlando, Fla.; Long Beach Airport in Long Beach, Calif.; Fresno International Airport in Fresno, Calif.; and Redding Jet Center and Redding Municipal Airport in Redding, Calif.