Pictured above: Peach lounging at the Holbrook Animal Shelter
Peach had been in our Shelter’s care since early June 2018. When we finally posted her picture on our shelter’s Facebook page, Peach immediately caught the eye of a very nice lady in New Jersey. This lady knew Peach was meant to be hers.
Not sure if you know this, but New Jersey and Arizona are more than TWO THOUSAND MILES apart.
Still, we found a way.
After much work we found a way to get Miss Peach 2248 miles across the country to her new owner. In August of 2018 she took a 3-day cross-country road trip relay including 3 overnight foster stays in different states. The TWENTY rides were all arranged via a Facebook group. We cannot thank ALL the volunteers & coordinators involved in arranging her transport and helping move her across the country, and to the foster homes she stayed in overnight on the way!
Now Peach’s story was extraordinary; we don’t normally transport dogs so far, but we do transport animals all the time. In fact, Rides to Rescue is the #1 biggest way – our top method – of getting adoptable pets out of the shelter to larger population centers for higher chances of adoption. We find rescues to take them and then use Facebook and our Transporter networks to find them a ride out of here. 95% of the time the animals stay in-state (in Arizona), so they don’t have to go too far, but we are in rural, isolated area. The round trip for transporters is often 6-7 hours.
Our 2026 Best Friends Grant helps us offer stipends to rescues to take our animals, and we (Holbrook’s Shelter Friends non-profit) raise money to pay the transporters for their gas and snacks.
Why do we need to get them out of here? We have a small, government-run animal shelter. We only have 21 kennels. We must take in all stray animals (the ones we can catch, anyway) as well as owner surrenders within Holbrook’s City limits. Due to our contract with Navajo County Animal Control we also have to take animals they bring us from surrounding areas and other towns within our county. We fill up fast! In the past, animals were commonly euthanized due to lack of space at the shelter to house them. Now, with the Friends group and our Transport programs, we haven’t had to do that in years.
Want to help? Keep an eye on our Facebook page, as we often post transport requests there! Dogs don’t drive! If you’ve got a car and time, you can help us! You can even contact the shelter and ask to be put on a transport list, and we can call you when we are in need of a Puppy Uber. Thanks in advance for supporting this life-saving program!
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