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who has an extensive base of fosters and volunteers. Through a coordinated eff ort, ARLGP quickly put a plan in moti on to help CVPAWS. Components of that included contacti ng CVPAWS as well as a nonprofi t they’ve worked with before, Wings of Rescue, for a lift back to Maine. Wings of Rescue is a 501(c)3 charity whose volunteer pilots fl y large-scale transports of at-risk shelter pets from disaster areas and overcrowded shelters to safe havens. Jeana said they chose fi ft y-fi ve dogs and eleven cats prior to the trip south in mid-April – they needed immunizati ons two weeks prior to their transport. In additi on to pups, they wanted some of CVPAWS longer term residents. ARLGP wanted to give them an opportunity at a bett er life because they adopt out pets quickly to dog-loving Mainers. One canine, Shady, was especially happy to be included – he had been at CVPAWS for two years. “Everything kind of fell into place,” Jeana said. ARLGP’s Marketi ng Coordinator, Kyra Hunsicker, and their Safety Net Manager, Sarah Lunt, were chosen to represent. (Through their IDEXX Safety Net, ARLGP partners with sixty rescues and shelters across Maine and the country. IDEXX’s support of these collaborati ons means they’re able to save more lives through the Safety Net program.) They Zoomed with the CVPAWS team to understand the challenges they faced. In less than three weeks aft er the project took hold, Kyra and Sarah were packing their bags. “We put all our ducks in a row and sent the two down,” Jeana said. Once the duo arrived in Texas, it was a whirlwind of acti vity. Sarah said on that fi rst day, they toured both faciliti es and met staff members. Kyra captured content at the shelters and snapped pics of dogs. They aided with animal care, cleaning, and medical support. Additi onally, they began posti ng their acti viti es via notes and pictures on the ARLGP Facebook and Instagram pages. The next day, the two were busy putti ng together the necessary sixtysix crates. All were labeled with the animals’ name, and water and food bowls were placed in each. They chatt ed and interviewed fosters who dropped off dogs for the transport. And they made ti me for plenty of canine interacti on and snuggling. How were the animals? “They were excited to get to Maine and their new lives,” Sarah laughed. On their last day, the Maine duo rose well before dawn and headed to the airport to load all crates on the Wings of Rescue plane. The plane, with Sarah aboard, headed back to Portland where ARLGP staff ers awaited their arrival, thrilled to welcome the pets. Jeana live streamed the event, with a heartf elt narrati ve.

This was a brand-new experience for the duo. They witnessed and parti cipated in the stage-by-stage import process. Sarah noted the amount of ti me and pati ence that’s involved. On past imports, they only parti cipated on the receiving end at the airport. She added her favorite part of the mission was fl ying back on the Wings of Rescue plane with the pilot and pets. “It was surprisingly quiet the whole way,” she explained the pets slept during most of the fl ight. Kyra, who fl ew home commercial, had a tough ti me choosing her favorite animal. “There were so many dogs, it’s hard to pick.” But she quickly changed her mind when she revealed she fell in love with and was fostering a Texas chihuahua/ dachshund mix named Haltom who gets along splendidly with her older Pitbull mix. She added she was going to adopt him, so yes, she thought he was her favorite. And she’s going to rename the 3-month-old pup Hiu (Hugh). Jeana has an overall viewpoint on all state shelters’ eff orts: "For me, it’s so impactf ul for Mainers to see where our shelter dogs come from. Any dog you meet in a Maine neighborhood likely came from a shelter across the country before they landed at a Maine shelter for adopti on." Note: Many of their Texas dogs have been returned from their local foster homes and are ready to be matched with a family. See ARLGP’s website at arlgp.org/adopt/dogs/ for their hours, and visit their adoptables at 217 Landing Road, Westbrook, Maine.

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