Dozens of shelter pets now have a better chance of finding a forever home.
More than 120 at-risk dogs and cats from overpopulated shelters were transported on a life-saving airlift to New Jersey and New Hampshire Wednesday. The flight was conducted by NBCUniversal Local’s Clear The Shelters in partnership with Greater Good Charities.
The animals came from nine overpopulated shelters across Alabama and Louisiana. They include harder-to-place and vulnerable pets, like large dogs, homeless cats and asymptomatic heartworm-positive dogs.
The flight first traveled from New Orleans to Morristown, New Jersey, where around 85 dogs and cats were received by four shelters: St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center (Madison, New Jersey), Humane Animal Partners (Wilmington, Delaware), Char Wills German Shepherd (Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania) and the Humane Rescue Alliance (Washington).
Eric Mullin/NBCUniversal Local
Eric Mullin/NBCUniversal Local Two cats and one dog who were transported to Morristown, New Jersey, in the Clear The Shelters airlift.
The remaining pets were then flown to Manchester, New Hampshire, and taken in by four in-state shelters: Pope Memorial Humane Society Cocheco Valley (Dover), Pope Memorial SPCA (Concord), New Hampshire SPCA (Stratham) and Upper Valley Humane Society (Enfield).
The receiving shelters will now provide the animals with medical care, if needed, before making them available for adoption.
“There’s an overpopulation issue in the South, so these are animals that wouldn’t normally get adopted down there,” said Jeremy Colborn, director of transport for Greater Good Charities. “We move them somewhere they can get adopted and find those forever homes.”
“The Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Dolores Catania and her daughter Gabby, who’s a veterinarian, were on hand at Morristown Airport to greet the pets. They helped load dogs and cats into shelters’ vans before spending some time with a couple of puppies.
Dolores and Gabby Catania hold puppies involved in the Clear The Shelters airlift at Morristown Airport in New Jersey. (Courtesy: Greater Good Charities)
“There is just such a need for getting pets out of the shelters,” Gabby said.
“It’s so important to just consider adopting and even fostering. If you can’t commit to adoption, fostering allows you to make a pet way more adoptable by getting them used to a home setting. But it also makes room for another pet that might need room in a shelter. So you’re helping two pets just by having one in your home, which is amazing.”
This was Clear The Shelters’ sixth airlift, which have saved more than 600 combined shelter pets. The latest flight came during Clear The Shelters’ 11th annual adoption campaign that’s running for the entire month of August. An extended donation initiative began in July and runs through Sept. 15.
Entering this year, Clear The Shelters had driven nearly 1.2 million pet adoptions and raised more than $5 million for participating shelters and rescues.
NBC and Telemundo stations, along with their affiliates, have partnered with more than 1,700 animal shelters for this year’s campaign.
For more information on Clear The Shelters, including participating animal shelters and rescues, along with details on local events and television programming, visit ClearTheShelters.com and the Spanish-language site DesocuparlosAlbergues.com, and follow Clear The Shelters on social media:
