Oxford-Lafayette Humane Society Transports 28 Puppies Cross-Country

The Oxford-Lafayette Humane Society has been filled to the brim with puppies – a problem that was rectified this evening as 28 of them are now being transported to Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Katie Timber, executive director of the SPCA of Southwest Michigan and a friend of the OLHS, reached out to the OLHS board to ask if it had any extra puppies to send their way. The SPCA in Kalamazoo has been short on young dogs to be adopted out, and the OLHS had an overabundance. In a fortunate turn of events, Timber asked OLHS at just the right time.

“We are looking forward to working in concert with Oxford-Lafayette Humane Society,” said Timber. “The board and staff certainly did their due diligence in increasing their life-saving efforts through this partnership. When we partner as shelters, we immediately increase our overall impact and create humane communities.”
OLHS Board President Cyd Dunlap said that due to more education and tighter spay/neuter laws, the Kalamazoo shelter has nowhere near the animal intake that the OLHS does. Before the transport, the Southwest Michigan SPCA didn’t have one single puppy available for adoption.
A pet transport between shelters is a lot more involved than just one phone call. Each and every animal must have all the proper paperwork filed and accounted for: name, breed, age, immunization records, etc. Depending on age, many dogs are required to have certain vaccinations before they can even cross state lines.
Grace Gillespie, an employee at OLHS, stresses that the work involved in a transport is much more than just a phone conversation.

“We’ve all made calls to other shelters up north and said, ‘Do you have any room?'” said Gillespie. “Most of them will turn you down. It’s all about finding the right place.”
Other research has to be done as well, including calling police stations in the town that the animals are being transported to and other provided references.
The drive to Kalamazoo takes about 11 hours, and it will be made by Natalie and Frank Estrada. Natalie is a board member at OLHS, and Frank is their animal control officer. All travel and lodging expenses will be paid for by the SPCA of Southwest Michigan.
Dunlap is confident that all 28 puppies will be almost immediately adopted in Kalamazoo; the shelter here in Oxford will, in turn, fill up again relatively quickly.

OLHS is located at 413 McElroy Drive. Its hours are Monday-Saturday, 12-5 p.m., and it can be reached at (662)-236-7631.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk3yYcQPw3Y

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Walter Lyle is the Social Media Editor at HottyToddy. He can be reached at walter.lyle@hottytoddy.com.