Adoptable pets take flight to find home

Over 100 dogs and cats were flown out from Roswell International Air Center on Thursday morning to Colorado and Utah animal rescue groups who will find homes for these animals that were previously in overpopulated animal shelters in Roswell and southeast New Mexico.

Shelters with too many animals are turning to transport programs like Dog Is My CoPilot (DIMC) to rescue pets at risk of euthanasia because of overcrowding. Transporting animals from areas of oversupply — where the likelihood of adoption is slim — to locations and animal rescue organizations where there are few, if any, similar animals, increases their chances of adoption.
“For every animal that is in a shelter, there is a human responsible. This is not a dog problem but a people problem. We only transport to facilities that will never put down a healthy, adoptable animal and we never charge the groups we fly for,” said Peter E. Rork, M.D., president of and chief pilot for DIMC.

Relocation programs are key to saving adoptable animals who are unnecessarily euthanized because of shelter overcrowding. By flying and transporting animals out of areas where they are at risk of euthanasia due to overpopulation, not only will the animal passengers find a forever family, but DIMC creates more space in the shelters for animals who might otherwise have remained at large or been euthanized. Every animal transported saves two; the one that is transported and the one that takes its place.