FROM TEXAS TO PENNSYLVANIA

Texas may be a long way from Pennsylvania, but a 23-hour drive was but a mere inconvenience for 102 pets tucked into travel crates for the journey. Forty-eight cats and kittens from three crowded shelters near Houston — along with 54 dogs from nearby Montgomery County Animal Services & Adoption Center (MCAS) — got a free ride northward to the Delaware Valley, where they’d get a fresh start in an area where adoptable animals are in constant demand.

Their final destination: the Brandywine Valley SPCA, based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, which each year adopts out about 18,000 dogs and cats. Brandywine and MCAS have cooperated in recent years to bring adoptable pets to the area. This time, MCAS had plenty of dogs to send but no cats because, thankfully, they had already placed their cats locally. So, they turned to the Best Friends team in Houston.

Best Friends works with a wide variety of shelters in the Houston area, but three shelters in particular welcomed the opportunity to send some of their cats and kittens on the trip. So Best Friends brought them into the local foster program to be spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and provided with basic medical care. Best Friends paid stipends to MCAS to handle the cats’ health certificates and other items associated with the trip and provided a van for the cats’ transportation.

Sophia Proler, Best Friends South Central regional director, says: “We were happy to collaborate with Montgomery County in an effort to help save the lives of more cats and kittens. While cat lifesaving has increased in Texas, cats are still needlessly dying in shelters across the state, including here in Houston.”

Sending cats to Brandywine would guarantee them a fresh start and provide the best chances for adoption. “It would also give staff at the three shelters a chance to focus on dogs, which remain a significant challenge at overcapacity shelters here,” Sophia says. “And it would give them a chance to work on enrichment, customer service, and other important activities.”

Their final destination: the Brandywine Valley SPCA, based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, which each year adopts out about 18,000 dogs and cats. Brandywine and MCAS have cooperated in recent years to bring adoptable pets to the area. This time, MCAS had plenty of dogs to send but no cats because, thankfully, they had already placed their cats locally. So, they turned to the Best Friends team in Houston.

Best Friends works with a wide variety of shelters in the Houston area, but three shelters in particular welcomed the opportunity to send some of their cats and kittens on the trip. So Best Friends brought them into the local foster program to be spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and provided with basic medical care. Best Friends paid stipends to MCAS to handle the cats’ health certificates and other items associated with the trip and provided a van for the cats’ transportation.

Sophia Proler, Best Friends South Central regional director, says: “We were happy to collaborate with Montgomery County in an effort to help save the lives of more cats and kittens. While cat lifesaving has increased in Texas, cats are still needlessly dying in shelters across the state, including here in Houston.”

Sending cats to Brandywine would guarantee them a fresh start and provide the best chances for adoption. “It would also give staff at the three shelters a chance to focus on dogs, which remain a significant challenge at overcapacity shelters here,” Sophia says. “And it would give them a chance to work on enrichment, customer service, and other important activities.”