WASHINGTON, May 23, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- For some
150-200 dogs and a handful of cats in Virginia and Alabama, a second chance at life is just a
road trip or flight away. From May
26-30, American Humane Association, the first national
humane organization, will be working with and filming two dramatic
transports involving North Shore Animal League America, Pilots N
Paws, celebrity animal advocate Beth
Stern, philanthropist Lois
Pope, and others to save some of the 3-4 million animals
relinquished to shelters who are euthanized each year.
On the morning of Tuesday May 26,
one of American Humane Association's two 50-foot Lois Pope Red Star
Rescue vehicles will join a mobile rescue vehicle from North Shore
Animal League America at the Martinsville, Virginia SPCA where 80-100 dogs
will be loaded into the trucks for the drive to North Shore Animal
League America's shelter on Long
Island. The dogs will travel in kennels generously donated
by the Petco Foundation, who also donated food and water bowls and
blankets for these dogs to make the journey as comfortable as
possible. Upon arrival in New
York, where they will be greeted by celebrity animal
advocate Beth Stern (who works with
both American Humane Association and North Shore Animal League
America), North Shore's renowned veterinary team will treat the
dogs and provide any necessary vaccinations so that the dogs can
soon be placed for adoption in forever homes.
Just a few days later on the morning of May 30, the same Lois Pope Red Star Rescue
vehicle will travel to Greenville,
Alabama, where it will be loaded with another 100 dogs and
cats who have been living in local shelters and with foster
families. The truck will take them to Mac
Crenshaw Memorial Airport where a fleet of 10 private
airplanes flown by Pilots N Paws volunteer pilots will meet them
and take the dogs to foster families and rescue groups throughout
South Florida. American Humane
Association will pay for vaccinations and health certificates prior
to their flights. Two of these planes carrying 60 dogs will make
their way to North Palm Beach Airport, where they will be greeted
by a second Lois Pope Red Star Rescue vehicle based in Florida, American Humane Association staff,
Beth Stern, and philanthropist
Lois Pope herself, who has funded
two of the vehicles in the national Red
Star fleet. Ms. Stern will be there to take home a mother
cat and her five kittens, and foster them at her home in
South Florida.
American Humane Association Red Star members will be at the
airport to help see that the remaining dogs are placed safely with
the local Palm Beach humanitarian
group "A Second Chance Puppies and Kittens Rescue," who will find
forever homes for them.
The entire massive coordinated project will be filmed for airing
during this fall's national television broadcast of the 2015
American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards™, presented by the Lois
Pope LIFE Foundation, to shine a light on the situation so many
animals face. The film will be hosted by Hero Dog Awards co-host,
and longtime North Shore League America volunteer, foster parent
and national spokesperson Beth
Stern. She has also served as a spokesperson for Hallmark
Channel.
"For almost 100 years, our Red Star Rescue team has helped
rescue and care for animals in difficult situations, and we are
honored to help and to take this story to millions so that it may
inspire more people to bring a shelter animal into their lives,"
said Dr. Robin Ganzert, American
Humane Association president and CEO. "Our deepest thanks to
everyone who is helping to make this effort possible: North Shore
Animal League America, Pilots N Paws, the Petco Foundation, 22
rescue and foster groups, Beth
Stern, and, of course, Mrs. Lois
Pope, American Humane Association's light of compassion who
has helped us give a second chance to thousands of animals over the
years through her generous sponsorship of our Red Star Rescue team,
the Hero Dog Awards, and this film."
"Dogs have always occupied a special place in my heart, and when
I learned about the situation in Martinsville and Greenville, I knew we had to do something,"
said Mrs. Pope. "I hope this project will inspire many people to
adopt more of the millions of animals so they can experience the
love and the lives they deserve."
"We are excited to work in collaboration with the American
Humane Association on our latest large-scale rescue to save the
lives of nearly 100 animals that might have been euthanized," said
Joanne Yohannan, Senior Vice
President of Operations, North Shore Animal League America. "North
Shore Animal League America began its humane relocation program
over three decades ago and has a long standing relationship with
SPCA of Martinsville-Henry County. For the past 20 years we
have working together to save the lives of over 20,000 homeless
dogs and cats in Virginia and the
surrounding area."
"I'm so excited to be part of this large scale rescue operation
that will save the lives of nearly two hundred homeless animals,"
said Beth Stern. "I encourage
everybody to adopt an animal from their local shelter rather than
buying one."
"It is a life changing experience for me to participate in
this combined rescue event," said Debi
Boies, founder and president of Pilots N Paws. "Working
side by side with the American Humane Association's
Lois Pope Red Star team, and
numerous rescue organizations, our volunteer pilots are making
flights and saving lives. It's heartwarming to look into the
eyes of these precious animals and see that the fear is gone as
they head to their new lives."
To follow the progress of the transportation and to see pictures
from the road and sky, please visit American Humane Association's
Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/AmericanHumane and follow them on
Twitter @AmericanHumane. To learn more about the American Humane
Association Hero Dog Awards presented by the Lois Pope LIFE
Foundation, please visit www.HeroDogAwards.org.
About American Humane Association
American Humane Association is the country's first national
humane organization and the only one dedicated to protecting both
children and animals. Since 1877, American Humane Association has
been at the forefront of virtually every major advance in
protecting our most vulnerable from cruelty, abuse and neglect.
Today we're also leading the way in understanding the human-animal
bond and its role in therapy, medicine and society. American Humane
Association reaches millions of people every day through
groundbreaking research, education, training and services that span
a wide network of organizations, agencies and businesses. You can
help make a difference, too. Visit American Humane Association at
www.americanhumane.org today.
About Lois Pope, The Lois Pope
LIFE Foundation, Inc., and LIFE (Leaders in Furthering
Education)
As one of America's leading philanthropists, Lois Pope has positively impacted the lives of
individuals at the local, national and international levels.
She has established three separate organizations dedicated to
helping those in need. These organizations are the Lois Pope
LIFE Foundation, Inc., Leaders In Furthering Education (LIFE), and
the Disabled Veterans' Life Memorial Foundation. For more
than 20 years she has been the driving force behind the Lois Pope
LIFE Center at the University of Miami
School of Medicine, The American Veterans Disabled for Life
Memorial, and a groundbreaking new program with American Humane
Association in Palm Beach County. Lois Pope has recently
donated two Lois Pope Red Star Rescue Vehicles. Each rescue vehicle
is a 50-foot long response unit, complete with a Ford F-350 truck
and trailer, which is specifically designed and outfitted to
provide an array of animal emergency services and cruelty responses
within the region.
Mrs. Pope recently saw the completion of a decade's long dream –
the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial, which was
dedicated by President Obama in Washington, DC on Sunday, October 5, 2014. The Memorial will
forever stand as a reminder to the public and legislators of the
courage and sacrifices of the four million living disabled veterans
and all those who died before them for the need to be vigilant in
assuring their support, as well as being aware of the human cost of
war.
A mother and a grandmother, Lois has trained for and completed
five New York City Marathons.
To learn more visit www.life-edu.org or call
561.582.8083.
About North Shore Animal League America
Animal League America has saved more than 1,000,000 lives.
As the world's largest no-kill rescue and adoption organization, we
understand that a rescue isn't complete until each animal is placed
into a loving home. Our innovative programs provide education
to reduce animal cruelty and advance standards in animal
welfare. We reach across the country to rescue animals from
overcrowded shelters, unwanted litters, puppy mills, natural
disasters and other emergencies and find them permanent, loving
homes.
About Pilots N Paws
Founded in February of 2008, Pilots N Paws has made a difference
by saving the lives of more than 75,000 innocent
animals. Partnered with Subaru and Petmate, Pilots N Paws is a
501c3 national charitable organization who through the help of more
than 5,000 general aviation volunteer pilots transports rescue
animals by air free of charge. The mission of Pilots N Paws
is to provide a user-friendly website communication venue between
those that rescue, shelter, and foster animals and pilots and plane
owners willing to assist with the transportation of these
animals. The goal of Pilots N Paws is to continue to promote
awareness of animal overpopulation and to implement education
programs to end this problem in our lifetime.
About the Petco Foundation
At the Petco Foundation, we believe that every animal deserves
to live its best life. Since 1999, we've invested more
than $125 million in lifesaving animal welfare work to make
that happen. With our more than 8,000 animal welfare partners, we
inspire and empower communities to make a difference
by investing in adoption and medical care programs,
spay/neuter services, pet cancer research, service and therapy
animals, and numerous other lifesaving initiatives. Through our
Think Adoption First program, we partner with Petco stores and
animal welfare organizations across the country to increase
pet adoptions. So far, we've helped more than 4.2 million pets
find their new loving families, and we're just getting
started. Visit petcofoundation.org to learn more about how you
can get involved.
About A Second Chance Puppies and Kittens Rescue,
Inc.
A Second Chance Puppies and Kittens Rescue, founded in
October 2007, is a 100% volunteer,
foster-based 501(c)(3) non-profit rescue group based in Palm Beach
County, Florida. Now in its eighth year, the group has rescued over
8,000 animals and continues to grow rapidly. Accomplishing our goal
of saving homeless pets' lives by providing them with safe, healthy
foster environments until they are adopted by loving forever
families, requires funding to pay for the food and medical needs of
the rescued animals. To learn more, please visit
www.asecondchancerescue.org.
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SOURCE American Humane Association