20 Beaufort County dogs head to Washington, D.C., new homes
More than 20 homeless dogs from Beaufort County are headed north to Washington, D.C., to find new homes.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals picked up the 23 dogs at the Hilton Head Humane Association on Tuesday morning, the start of a new program that will bring dogs and cats from areas like Beaufort County to the Northeast for adoption.
A custom-built van will make the trip to Beaufort County twice a month over the next three years, transporting dogs and cats from the Humane Association and Beaufort County Animal Services to the Animal Rescue League in Washington and the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society in Albany, N.Y., said Beaufort County Animal Services director Tallulah Trice.
The Washington shelter is also where four hound-mix puppies were brought from Hilton Head, starring on a livestream for Animal Planet's annual Puppy Bowl held before the Super Bowl.
Tuesday's pickup was part of the Nancy Silverman Rescue Ride program, which aims to bring thousands of dogs and cats from crowded shelters in the Southeast to the Northeast, where demand for adoption is high but the supply of adoptable animals is low, Trice said.
Transporting the animals north for adoption will help reduce overpopulation in shelters, dropping costs, diseases and euthanasia rates, Trice and Humane Association executive director Franny Gerthoffer said.
"The ASPCA is footing the bill and bringing their truck right to the Humane Association," Gerthoffer said. "There's no cost to us to move the animals for adoption. It really is a blessing."
While the program may relieve some crowding at shelters in the region, Beaufort County Councilman Rick Caporale said local organizations still needed to think critically about how to solve cat and dog overpopulation. Caporale said he was pleased with the efforts to drop the euthanasia rate in the county and welcomed the transport program, but he added that the birth rates among dogs and cats remain high.
Follow reporter Matt McNab at twitter.com/IPBG_Matt.
This story was originally published March 3, 2015 at 11:34 AM with the headline "20 Beaufort County dogs head to Washington, D.C., new homes."