Rural Shelter Transports - how does this transport really work?

I kept trying to think of the best way to handle the earlier post by Ms. Painter that inferred that I run irresponsible transports. After stressing out over this all day, I thought it would be a good idea to shine some light on what we ACTUALLY do.

First, a little bit about myself. I have been coordinating transports for over 10 years, first out of one shelter in Virginia and now from 10-15 shelters in SC, NC, VA and sometimes WV. If you'd like to get a feel for what we do, please check out the Rural Shelter Transports Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rural-Shelter-Transports/177977083829 and check out our "notes" section with transports coming up and rules and all that, check out the photos of our transport passengers, and you can see the posts from everyone there.

Basically I work with several partner shelters - helping some of them find rescues in the first place for their animals - and when rescue commitment is in place I screen new rescues and then prepare "legs" of about an hour each from start point to rescue end point to get them on their way. There are a myriad of rules in place so we follow all USDA regulations regarding animal importation, and we go much further than that in our goal of transporting healthy animals (requiring vaccinations, quarantine, etc.). All week, I send out emails and pleas trying to recruit drivers to help us out, and if we get driver commitments I add them to what's called a "run sheet." Here's an example of one I'm working on now: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_YhqpyEhRuqnUy8IXgjELzcvvEPqwZISpCVWd2DuvN8/edit?pli=1

When we get enough drivers, we'll declare the transport "FILLED" and I'll send out a "run sheet" with info including meeting spots, driver details, passenger details, etc. Unfortunately if we DON'T fill the run, we have to leave passengers behind. Sometimes we'll line up temporary fosters along the line if it looks like a run might not fill so we can still move them at least partway. During transport, we have a designated volunteer to answer emails/phone calls and keep the transport on track. Drivers drive their assigned "leg" with their assigned passengers, hand them off at the designated meeting spot, and then the relay keeps moving forward until they reach the end point or the overnight point when transports are too long.

Whew. Sound like a lot? It is. We spend hours and hours getting these transports off the ground. Our volunteer drivers devote their gas money and time, and I am proud of the group that we've put together. I work hard to make sure that the receiving rescues are screened and excellent, and that they will be committed to life to these animals. It makes no sense to shuffle them all over the country without making sure that they are truly safe. I believe that the transport work we do speaks for itself. We ALWAYS need more volunteers and I would love for more people to get involved. 

Ms. Painter has taken a post begging for transport help at the last minute as a sign of us being irresponsible and leaving pets in a bad situation with nowhere to go. This is patently false and the post in question was misunderstood: We beg because we don't want to let these animals down and leave them behind; we beg so other animals in the shelters don't die because we couldn't move the transport animals out of foster or boarding spots; we beg, but while we beg we put backup plans in place.

I would encourage anyone with questions to email me at tierbee@verizon.net, and if you can volunteer even one weekend a year we need you desperately! One hour each way, even if you can fit one passenger... you can make a difference.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope that this gives a little better picture of what we really do, why we beg, and the difference that we can make. In 2012 alone, Rural Shelter Transports safely transported over 1,300 dogs, cats, puppies and kittens (and even a snake!) to our screened and approved rescue partners. With the help of volunteers, including new ones that hopefully will read this and be intrigued, we can continue that work this year, next year, as long as we're needed.