How to Become a Dog Rescue Transporter

Eighty-thousand dogs are euthanized in this country every week. If you are a dog lover, like to drive and would like a wonderful volunteer opportunity, become a dog rescue transporter. You will be saving some grateful canines from euthanasia.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• car
• references

1. 
    

   To save these dogs lives, many volunteers from all over the United States, transport them from over crowded shelters to shelters with available space. A dog could also be going to a breed specific rescue, or its forever home. The receiving placement may be three or four states away from the original placement. For instance, let's imagine you saw a dog on Petfinder.com that you want to adopt, but you live in Georgia, and the dog is in Wyoming. Several volunteers will get your new family member to you by driving a leg of the journey which is usually an hour or two distance away. Picture a relay race. Instead of passing the baton, the volunteers are passing dogs. The first driver will get the dog at the shelter and meet the second driver in a neutral location. The third driver will take the dog to the next destination, and the fourth driver will continue on the trek to the next destination and so on, and you'll have a lovable new companion. As you can imagine, coordinating all of this is a daunting task. That's where the volunteer transport coordinator comes in.

2. 
    

   The transport coordinator will screen any potential volunteers to start the process of authorizing to transport. This is as easy as a call to a veterinarian for a reference. Then the volunteer will be asked to provide a cell phone number, home phone, and vehicle information: make, model, color, and license plate number. Once authorized to transport, a schedule of needed transports will be emailed to you. Transporting takes place on the weekends.

3. 
    

   Now let's imagine you're the new volunteer in Louisville. A transport with three dogs is coming through your town this Saturday. You're going to pick them up from a driver at a local Dairy Queen, drive to Cincinnati, meet another driver and hand over the dogs. That's all there is to it. You're free to go home.

4. 
    

   There are volunteer coordinators all over the country.
   www.kellysresqtransport.wordpress.com is one of them. If you are interested in becoming a dog transport volunteer, go to her website where you will find all the information you need to get started. Kelly lives in San Diego, but coordinates these runs all over the United States.

Tips & Warnings

• You don't have to own a crate to transport dogs, but it is helpful.

[kaseysviewblog]

on 5/9/2009 What a wonderful cause!It's so sad to see homeless pets, which is probably why I ended up with three extra cats last year :)

[pamelaa75]

on 5/7/2009 This is a really good article on how to become a dog rescue transporter 5*s

[hopekee]

on 5/6/2009 Great article, FIVE STARS!!

[veryirie]

on 5/4/2009 This kind of stuff just makes me want to cry. What a wonderful cause! If I were living in the mainland, I'd be signed up so fast. Thanks for writing about this!

[goodselfme]

on 5/4/2009 What a wonderful job to transport dogs as you described so well.