Six cats and four dogs from the Lancaster County Animal Shelter got a
private flight Nov. 9 to their new home in East Hampton, New York.The trip was a coordinated effort by animal rescue groups, a charitable pilot, the shelter and two Lancaster County Council members.
Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons (ARF) rescues pets from shelters of Southern states that don’t have strict spay and neuter laws, which results in an overpopulation of animals. Lancaster Area Shelter Supporters (LASS) coordinated the recent trip with ARF. LASS member Arlene McCarthy organized the effort and has already planned another one for early 2017.
Lancaster shelter director Alan Williams praised the groups’ work.
“I think anytime we can get animals rescued from this shelter is great,” Williams said. “We are so small with space that the lives of these animals depend on rescue groups to move them out quickly.”
Animals at the shelter go through a holding period and are evaluated before being considered for adoption. Animals that come into the shelter are checked for a microchip with a universal scanner, for a rabies tag or ID tag on a collar. If the animal has identification, the owner is contacted. If no identification is found, the animal is held at the shelter for five days. Once the shelter receives its maximum capacity of 30 dogs, it begins euthanizing animals. Thanks to animal rescue groups, about 75 percent of dogs leave the shelter for a new home.
ARF was started in 1974 in New York to deal with the overabundance of loose and unwanted pets. All pets are spayed or neutered before leaving ARF’s adoption center. As a result of strict laws requiring owners to sterilize their pets, the Northern states come south to rescue pets from states with no such laws.
LASS supporters loaded pets into their personal vans at the shelter early Wednesday morning and a convoy including Councilman Larry Honeycutt, Councilman-elect Terry Graham, the pilots and two ARF members headed west to the Lancaster County Airport.
“This is our third time pulling pets from the Lancaster shelter,” said Michele Forrester, ARF director of operations. “In October 2015, we emptied the shelter when we rescued 30 dogs in our transport van.”
Wednesday’s rescue included fewer pets, but for the 10 given a new lease on life it was just as big a deal. ARF, a no-kill shelter, took every available pet, saving them from possible euthanasia.
Shelter regulations require a five-day hold on pets before they can be released to the public. But that rule doesn’t apply to owner-surrendered pets.
Just before the convoy left the animal shelter parking lot, a woman drove up and surrendered her small brown dog. He turned out to be a crowd favorite and flew to New York in the arms of one of the ARF rescuers. He enjoyed a window seat, and there was talk he would be named Lanny in honor of his hometown.
The pilot, Bob Gordon, flies his own plane for two organizations, Angel Flight and Patient Air Lift, that provide free medical transportation to patients needing medical care.
Gordon provided the same free flight for the 10 pets on board his plane.
“I’m just glad to give back,” Gordon said.
Councilman Larry Honeycutt has been vocal in his support of the shelter this past year.
“We need to do better than we are doing. We need to make this a top priority, and we are going to do something about it,” Honeycutt said.
Honeycutt hopes to encourage council to hire another part-time staffer by the first of the year to ease the burden on current staff who are working many 10-hour days.
Nov 18, 2016
Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152.
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