Greater Good Charities
Dozens of animals are on the road to loving homes while making space for pets needing emergency care.
The donated plane did not fly back to the mainland U.S. empty; before departing on Friday, volunteers filled the aircraft with over 130 shelter pets from theMaui Humane Society. The cats and dogs who boarded the return flight were adoptable pets at the animal shelterbefore the wildfires started.
Stephen M. Keller/Southwest Airlines
“It’s best practices in disaster to clear the shelter of adoptable pets so that the shelter has the room to take in any pets that the disaster may have impacted, whether that be strays or pets waiting to reunify with their families or animals that need help short term,” Liz Baker, the CEO of Greater Good Charities, tells PEOPLE.
The cats and dogs that were airlifted out of Maui went to shelters along the west coast of the U.S., including Oregon Humane Society, Berkeley Humane, Marin Humane Animal Rescue Foundation, East Bay SPCA, Fremont Animal Services, and Friends of Alameda Animal Shelter.
Maui Humane Society
Baker says a veterinarian checked all the animals before boarding the flight and received exams when they arrived at their new shelters to ensure they were in good health, so the pets should be available for adoption soon.
“It’s really all hands on deck, and it takes many, many, many organizations. It happened with the help of Maui Humane, their veterinarians, and their fosters, who prepared the animals for the flight. Southwest Airlines helped us load the plane and then fly it over. We had a veterinarian on the ground doing double checks of all the animals, and then the pets got distributed to the rescue groups that lovingly took them in, and we’ll see them all the way through to adoption.” Baker says.
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“Greater Good Charities also has a portal where peoplecan sign up to volunteerfor future relief flights; most of our projects are volunteer-run,” Baker adds.
source: people.com
