In May 2010, Missy was stolen from her owner’s car in Tucson when they stopped at a gas station to ask for directions. In the more than a year that has past, her owner, Amber, has not stopped looking for her — regularly checking with the shelter, placing ads on Craigslist, etc.

Even after she returned to Nebraska, Amber kept looking for Missy.

Now there has been a break. Missy has been found. She is in the Pima Animal Care Center in Tucson, Arizona. Above is a photo of her as she looks now.

Time is of the essence. We are asking for everyone’s help. Is there a rescue or a kind soul who will step forward and pull Missy from the shelter?

Contact Amber at 402-601-7086 or via Facebook. Or comment on this post.

UPDATE: Amber and a friend are driving to Tucson to pick up Missy. We will update you as details become available. I wish them a safe journey and a happy reunion.

Need help transporting a pet? Here are some groups that may be able to help.

(from http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=118151191557320)
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• A Furry Friend. Rescue Transport Services
• Alpha Dog Transport Inc. – tel.508-868-0642 – Contact_us@alphadogtransport.com – kelldarius@yahoo.com
• Angels On Wheels – 1895 Centre Street, Suite #14, West Roxbury, MA 02132 – tel.617-469-4610 – fax617-469-4622 – angelsonwheelsnc@hotmail.com or gr_handyman@msn.com
• www.animalairlift.org
• Animal Rescue Flights
• www.AnimalRescueAndTransport.com – Kyle Young – tel.661-874-7546 – volunteer with the Lancaster shelter
• http://www.animalrescuesuperhighway.org/ – a coast-to-coast network of rescue organizations, transporters, fosters, vets, and animal lovers.
• Badger Rescue Animal Transport Services, Inc. – 10602 N Port Washington Rd #204, Mequon, WI 53092 – tel.414-322-1085 – lmmitchell@charter.net
• Cloud Nine Rescue Flights
• Colorado Animal Rescue Express (C.A.R.E.) – Transport Coordinator, Linda Fox – nelliefoxus@yahoo.com
• Companion Rescue & Transport – Nashville, TN 37221 – tel.615-260-8473 or tel.731-217-6196 – cprtransport@gmail.com
• http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/content/travel/animals/default.aspx
• The Dachshund Underground Railroad – Lisa Rawlinson – http://www.doxie.org/ – lisa@doxie.org
• http://www.dogster.com/forums/Dogster_Railroad
• Flying Paws – http://www.flyingpaws.org/ – message to be sent on contact page
• Forgotten Angels Rescue & Education Center – Rescue Transport Groups Transport Resources (Maintains list of resources to help rescues get transported in US)
  http://www.farec.org/transport.htm
• Freedom Train Animal Rescue Transports – http://www.freedomtraintransports.com/ – covers many states, but focus on sending animals from the south to the northeast – rhonda@freedomtraintransports.com
• Humane Animal Resources http://www.humaneanimalresources.ning.com/ – Humane Animal Resources provides US city, state, national and global listings of No-Kill shelters and sanctuaries, including animal rights groups, via web links and other contact information.
• Jay Richmond’s Pet Transportation – comfortable transport of rescue animals in the US – http://www.jayrichmond.com/ – tel.917-751-3406 – jayrichmondproductions@gmail.com
• Kat’s Waggin Train – Transport from the Southeast US to the Northeast US and Points In-Between, $85/dog or $100 for two dogs traveling in the same crate, $125 for Mama dog and puppies – katswaggintrain@yahoo.com – tel.615-582-0759
• www.kycentral.org – shelters and transport in KY
• KY Central – Coordinated volunteer ground transport: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nation-Wide/Take-Me-Home-Animal-Rescue-Transports/191304693761?ref=ts#/profile.php?id=100000029462343&ref=ts
• On The Road Again: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OnTheRoadAgain/?yguid=1217511
• Operation Roger – http://www.operationroger.rescuegroups.org/ – a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization comprised of regional and long-haul truckers.
• Pet Air – http://www.flypets.com/ – flypetair@yahoo.com – tel.816-471-3852
• Pet Airways – www.petairways.com – www.twitter.com/petairways – Pet Airways travel agent tel.408-248-6000 ext 2
• http://www.petfriendlytravel.com/airtravel
• Pooch Logistics, Inc. – http://poochlogistics.com/index.html – 300 Brittney Lan
• PetTransportNet – petTransportNet@yahoogroups.com – group for transporting Rescued Pets anywhere in North America – a group you’ll have to join with
• Peterson Express Transport Service – Animal Rescue Road Trips – http://www.petsllc.net/
• http://www.petfriendlytravel.com/airtravel
• Pilots N Paws – http://pilotsnpaws.org/ – Petmate® partners with Pilots N Paws
  Pilots and Paws, a dedicated group of private pilots that transport pets is on facebook! http://www.facebook.com/pilotsnpaws?ref=ts
• Pro-Pet-Transport – MAIN OFFICE Professional Pet Transports Inc. – 59154 Trafton Lane, OR 97845 – John Day – pptoffice@pro-pet-transports.com – http://www.pro-pet-transports.com/index.php
• Rescue Riders Transport – http://www.rescueriderstransport.com/
• Roads of Hope: www.roadsofhope.org
• Roger Rover (a cross-country volunteer transport resource!

  http://www.facebook.com/l/d6bf0;rogerrover.aimoo.com

• http://safedogexpress.com/
• SE Pet Rescue Railroad – Coordinated volunteer ground transport: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=14864&uid=185354455560#!/seprr (see Discussion tab for coordinated transport requests)
• Sky Ark – free air transportation – http://www.skyark.org/ – P.O. Box 1553, Buena Vista, Colorado 81211 – send message via http://www.skyark.org/contact-us.html
• http://speedpetworking.com/
• Take Me Home: Animal Rescue Transports – Coordinated volunteer ground transport: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nation-Wide/Take-Me-Home-Animal-Rescue-Transports/191304693761?ref=ts (see Discussion tab for coordinated transport requests)
• temersonb@peoplepc.com – A rescue friendly truck driver who regularly drives a route between Colorado and the East Coast
• Throwaway Pups – www.throwawaypupstransport.webs.com – email Brandy at throwawaypups@aol.com
• Truck ‘n’ Paws: www.trucknpaws.com
• Tucker Fleiss Rescue/Transport tuckerfleiss@yahoo.com in Los Angeles, CA
• Tullahoma Small Breed Rescue – Tullahoma, TN 37388 – tel.931-393-3522 – traversa@gimail.af.mil

List of Transporters Listed by State http://www.facebook.com/notes/crystal-harley-v/list-of-transporters-listed-by-state/458111562936

From the website of Animal Rescue Flights, one of the groups involved in the caravan, this explanation of the event:

4 key activities planned as part of the Georgia Puppy Caravan:

1) A caravan of up to 200 vehicles will travel a path that starts in New Jersey and ends in Atlanta. Families and individuals participating are making the trek to show their support for the animals of Georgia. We invite everyone to come out to our rest stops and show your support of the Caravan on its long drive…bring your flags, posters, and smiles to show the local media how much support there is for the animals. Support for the animals of Georgia will also come by air! Volunteer pilots for Animal Rescue Flights will fly into the Peachtree Dekalb airport with food donations and will be prepared to transport shelter dogs to their new rescue homes, if needed. Caravan itinerary

2) After arriving to Georgia, the Caravan will visit the Chattooga shelter in Summerville and entirely empty the facility of its unwanted animals. The media will be on hand. It will be a symbolic event of how things should be…animal shelters sitting empty because every animal has a home of its own. The message will be positive, focusing on the need for spaying and neutering as well as asking people to care for their animals as members of the family versus discarding animals as they might discard unwanted furniture or clothing. Preparations are being made in advance so that the dogs are ready to travel. More details about emptying the Chattooga shelter.

3) To welcome the Georgia Puppy Caravan to Atlanta, an event is being planned and hosted by Mr. David York and the Barking Hound Village, where the new National Geographic reality series about Rescue Ink will be premiered. Both Rescue Ink and National Geographic will be present at the event. Politicians, celebrities and the press have been invited. And, of course, Caravan participants and rescue volunteers will attend the event as well. Much of what is necessary to put on such an event is being donated. We hope that the press attending this event will raise enough awareness that it will be possible to more quickly create a widespread low cost spay/neuter program for Georgia. Many thanks to Mr. David York and Barking Hound Village for sponsoring such a wonderful event. More details about the premiere event.

4) We know there will still be work to do after the Caravan leaves Georgia. With this in mind, the Caravan wants to leave a gift behind to help the shelters in Georgia after all the excitement wanes and the media coverage ends. Food and supply donations are being collected at designated donation points in various states and will be delivered to a warehouse in Georgia that will be responsible for distributing the food and supplies as needed until it is gone. In addition to food and supplies donated by individuals, cash donations will be used to purchase dog food directly from a dog food manufacturer at a specially negotiated rate. If we can raise enough funds to purchase 20 tons of dog food, this manufacturer will round out the truck with the last 2 tons and ship the food to Atlanta. More information about food, supplies and cash donations.

Press release

Some of the organizations assisting in the Georgia Puppy Caravan include:

• The M.O.M.S. Rescue
• Animal Rescue Flights (ARF)
• Freedom Train Animal Rescue Transports
• Barking Hound Village
• Daffy’s Pet Soup Kitchen
• Animal Adoption Center
• Georgia SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)
• Dogs On Death Row
• Rescue Ink
• Save Our Pets Foodbank
• Chattooga County Animal Control Shelter
• Ningun Films
• Bodhi Grove Productions
• OFG Productions

For more information about the Georgia Puppy Caravan, please call Karen LaSasso
at 609-665-1224 or email her at kat12242003 [at] yahoo [dot] com.

Though the rescue of dogs and cats and their journey to a new life is the hard work of dedicated people from all over the world — yes, rescues even cross the oceans and seas of our planet earth to reach their forever homes — it is not without a tale worthy of telling. Incredibly pets speak volumes without saying a single word. It’s all body language and facial expressions. Perhaps that is why I love silent movies so much — they remind me of pet-speak.

A couple months ago, I shared with you the hilarious story of one “leg” on the journey three spaniels took aboard the canine rescue railroad as told by the driver, Robin Olson. She is typically a cat person, so her foray into the world of dogs had me laughing out loud to the point of tears. Even on the third reading of her story. How well I recognize the “death fart” and “the stench of pepperoni dog barf.” Imagine how it must have seemed to a cat person stuck inside the confines of a small car driving down the road.

Recently, another author, Debbie Eades, commented on a post I wrote about the underground railroad for cats and dogs. For seven years, Debbie and her husband have been driving rescues from kill shelters to rescue groups and forever homes in the Cincinnati area. In that time, Debbie has accumulated hundreds of tales and photos of the journey for these rescued animals.

From these tales has come a book: “Every Rescued Dog Has a Tale: Stories from the Dog Rescue Railroad.” In her words: »

Profits from the sale of the book go directly to help rural animal shelters and dog rescues around the country so that more dogs will have a happy ending. It is her hope that more people will be inspired to become a volunteer and save more lives. There is a great amount of satisfaction received from helping these animals in need.

Here are a few of the dogs Debbie and her husband have journeyed with over the years. You can click on any of the photos to read a caption about the dog(s).

For more information about Debbie’s book and to read an excerpt, you can go to her website everyrescueddog.homestead.com

At any moment, there are thousands of pets needing transport… and you can help. To start, go to yahoo groups: pet transport. There are many groups. Find one that interests you, whether it is by breed, by region or by state.

Help these guys (and gals) get home.

The mission-of-mercy relocations are flown by general aviation pilots who have signed on with Pilots N Paws, a Web-based message board where pilots can access information about animals in need.

Once the electronic connection is made, dogs plucked by rescuers from death row — mostly in the South where sterilization rates are low and pet overpopulation is rampant — are loaded onto small planes and flown one, two or six at a time to rescue groups and shelters that have available space.

“These are wonderful dogs that simply had the bad luck of winding up in a place where there are too many pets in shelters,” says Pilots N Paws co-founder Jon Wehrenberg of Knoxville, Tenn. The retired manufacturing executive and weekend pilot has flown scores of dogs from high-kill shelters this year.
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excerpted in part from USAToday

Several months ago, I was searching the internet for suggestions on how to move my pets back East. I am contemplating a move back home to Delaware from Texas to be closer to family, but I don’t know how to get my dogs and cats there. I have several of each… more than a car full.

So I started looking on the internet. In my search, I stumbled upon several groups of people that transport dogs — and probably cats, too — from one side of the country to the other; north and south, east and west. And this is quietly going on all the time.

I never knew.

It has been going on long enough that there are certain protocols established: a health certificate from the vet, spayed/neutered, proof of rabies, sound temperament, paperwork, bowls, water, leashes, harnesses/collars, sheets to cover the inside of your car, paper towels and so on. There are pilots that volunteer their time and their plane to relocate small animals within their region. And there are volunteers that offer their time and their vehicles to drive “legs” of a dog’s journey from Point A to Point B. Some “legs” may be just an hour and some may be more.

Often the transferees come from death row in a shelter where their time is running out. They may be going to another shelter in a new area, a rescue organization or sometimes even a forever home. When the need arises to transport a dog, a notice is posted online with all the pertinent info: who the dog is, often a photo, temperament, special requirements, what he/she will be bringing, what you need to know, then a list of all the legs with dates and times. The core of volunteers regularly checks the various requests and signs up for the legs they can do.

From my tiny perspective here on the outside, it is incredibly orchestrated like a team track event. Instead of passing a baton, these people are passing a dog. Driver B meets Driver A at a certain location. The dog gets water and a potty break, is moved to the new car and begins the next leg. Driver C meets Driver B at a certain location. Water, potty break and on to the next leg. This goes on until the dog gets to the final destination. If it’s a long drive, someone volunteers to take the dog in for the night and the next day, the journey continues.

What a wonderful service they provide.

This morning I stumbled on a post from one of these “drivers” and got a really good belly laugh from her story. She is essentially a cat person, so you have to admire her willingness to step outside her preferred species to help three dogs for one leg of their life saving journey. As someone who has dogs, I know what she is explaining so well… it just smacks of DOGS! (This is an example of why dogs always lose the “Who’s better — dogs or cats?”)

What Was I Thinking?
Sun, 2009-06-14 13:47 — Robin Olson

So I volunteered to run another load of rescued Brittany Spaniels up to Hartford. This time it was going to be in MY little car and this time no puppies, but adults-so no crates, just loose dogs. No problem. I can do this.

Last night I prepped the car, put sheets all over the seats, packed up cleaning supplies, treats, water and a bowl. I knew where the pickup and drop off points were located, so I was ready! Now I just needed the doggies.

I reached the pickup location early and Debra was already waiting for me. I could tell the dogs wanted to BOUNCE OUT OF THE CAR. I grabbed Margo, who MUST be kept in the front seat, away from the other dogs or she gets pissed off. Debra grabbed Bailey and our new amputee, Kiley. The second they were out of the car it was complete chaos! Thank goodness we had a good hold of the leads. The dogs wanted to get moving! It was all we could do to get them to settle down enough so we could get them some water-which they inhaled, and get all their papers and other things transferred over to my car.

Then it was time to load my car. Debra was awesome and got two in the back while I held onto Margo. We loaded her last and it went fine, but the dogs didn’t want to sit down. They all wanted the front seat!

Margo is giving me that look…too bad I don’t know what “that look” means in dog-speak!

This is where I start wondering if I’m an idiot.

Look at them! Little Kiley and Bailey are so sweet…ha ha ha! For NOW!

I get the car moving, realizing that the dogs have moved the sheets off the seats and are sliding all over the LEATHER cushions with their dirty feet. Oops.

The dogs settled down fairly quickly for which I was very grateful. Margo wanted to put her head in my lap, but it was too dangerous, so I just kept my hand on her head as I navigated through the traffic. So far, so good.

After a few minutes, the dogs were bored and started to shuffle around the car. I opened the small windows in the back and the dogs got all excited and bounced all over each other. Nice. Ok. Close windows. Settle down…whew…

The next 30 minutes were relatively fine, until I heard puppy Bailey make a funny sound. I looked over my shoulder to see him vomit something huge over my back seat and onto the floor. Then the stench of pepperoni dog barf filled the cabin. Ack! I almost barfed, myself. Nice. This is going great.

A second after that, Kiley farted some sort of death fart. The blend of doggie smells was intoxicating, cough cough…

It certainly motivated me to DRIVE quickly to get to the drop off location. I was running early and I prayed that Rachel would be there to get these beasts out of my car! I pulled myself together, took a breath, then Kiley BARKED suddenly and loudly! It scared the shit out of me and I almost drove off the highway!!!! I need to get these dogs OUT OF MY CAR!!!!!

Ok. It’s going to be OK…really..ha ha ha ha ha…oh boy.

There are no more photos. I got to the drop off place and had a hair raising time getting all the dogs into Rachel’s big truck. Margo discovered FOOD and was doing everything she could to pull the paper wrapped sandwiches towards her drooling mouth. The other two dogs wanted the front seat, too, but Margo would flip out if she hadn’t been so focused on the treats. I feared for Rachel, but she was calm. Ha ha ha..for now!

I waved farewell to Rachel and the goggies, then went to work cleaning the puke and mud out of my car. I am very happy to know I helped some goggies have a better life, but please, next time, no barfing in the car, OK? Cat barf is one thing, but dog barf…WOOF!
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reprinted from Covered in Cat Hair blog

Yep, this is pretty much what I would expect my leg of the journey to be like. Thanks, Robin for the wonderful laugh this morning.

The basic plan is a daisy-chain of volunteers who drive a “leg” of the dog or cat’s journey. Another volunteer picks the animal up from a pre-determined location — a parking lot, a gas station, a park, etc. — and takes over for their “leg.” This continues until they reach it’s new home, or maybe it’s new shelter.

Below is a partial list of transporters. More can be found if you search Yahoo groups for pet transport. There are many groups you can post your transport needs to or request to be a volunteer.

• AcmePet Transport
• Basenji Rescue & Transport
• Basenji Underground Railroad
• Biker Babe Transport
• California Rescue Railroad
• CatPurr Transport Board
• Chihuahua Rescue & Transport
• Dog Rescue Railroad
• DOTS (Dalmatian Overland Transport Service)
• Furkids Chihuahua and Toys
• Heart Bandits – Eskie Railroad
• I-10/I-20 Rescue and Transport
• IMOM Express
• Maine Coon Alliance Rescue Network (MCARN)
• Rescue Transport
• Truck-n-Paws