BOISE — Careful hands hoisted Monica, Phoebe and 43 other furry friends off the plane and onto the Boise Airport’s Jackson Jet Center tarmac on Monday, Valentine’s Day.
These friends are shelter dogs who were flown from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to Boise to find new homes in the Treasure Valley, escaping crowded shelters in Louisiana and Mississippi, said Erin Robbins, director of pet programs for Good Flights, a program of Greater Good Charities. The Animal Rescue Site also helped arrange the flight. The dogs will be cared for by the Idaho Humane Society until they are adopted.
“This was a long flight,” Robbins, who flew with the animals, said. “The pets did really well. ... They all had ice cups, and the puppies had food, so they’re quite comfortable and relaxed.”
The dogs arrived in a small cargo plane early Monday afternoon. The plane’s pilots and Idaho Humane Society staff unloaded the plane kennel by kennel. The event was dubbed “Love at First Flight” and some kennels were decorated for the occasion with colorful hearts, the event name and phrases such as “I want to be loved bayou.”
Most of the animals taken in by the Idaho Humane Society hail from Idaho, but partnering with shelters “allows us to reach another community desperate for assistance due to overcrowding and lack of resources,” said Kristine Schellhaas, public relations and communications manager for the Idaho Humane Society.
“Thanks to our fantastic community of adopters, we can open our doors to provide critical and routine medical care for pets in need outside of the Treasure Valley area,” Schellhaas said.
The dogs on the transport ranged from puppies just a few months old to senior dogs and in size from 5 pounds to 90 pounds, Robbins said. Lots of breeds were represented, including beagles, hounds and labs, she said.
“We do transports on a regular basis from overpopulated, overcrowded shelters to shelter partners like Idaho Humane Society that have 50 kennels and adopters literally lining up to adopt,” Robbins said. “So we really are just making room where it’s desperately needed and bringing (animals) to the homes and hearts of people who desperately want them.”
Teams from the nine participating shelters in Louisiana and Mississippi mobilized as early as midnight Central Time to take the dogs to the airport in Baton Rouge, Robbins said.
Shelters in that region are facing a large influx of people giving up pets for adoption, Robbins said.
“Every shelter I visited ... said we have never seen so many owner surrenders,” she said, adding that some shelters have had to post signs saying they cannot take any more animals, she said. Reasons people have cited include COVID-19 and work, she said. Flights like Monday’s help clear shelters so that they have capacity to take in more animals, she said.
About 60 percent of the dogs on Monday’s flight will need to be spayed or neutered before they can be adopted, Robbins said.
“The biggest thing the South needs is access to low-cost spay and neuter,” Robbins said. “And until they do, we’ll find homes for the (animals) that are born homeless,” she said.
Dogs tend to be adopted quickly once in the Idaho Humane Society’s care, Robbins said.