Putting together a Transport

Coordinating a transport for Rescued Dogs & Cats is time consuming, it can take anywhere from 1-3 hours each night posting to lists and volunteers trying to fill legs. Here are a few tips for putting a transport together.

• Before setting up a transport you should know the laws in your state for animal imports. All dogs & Cats should be up to date on shots and have a current Health Certificate. Puppies must be at least 8 weeks of age unless accompanied by it's mother.
• The first thing to do is figure out what route your transport will take, you can use a Road Atlas or web based pages like Mapquest.comand Mapblast.com to figure out how long each leg is and the start and stop town/city.
• Try to keep you legs no more than 80-90 miles one way. Some volunteers may offer to do more but it is best to let them decide. To long a leg may discourage volunteers from coming forward.
• Stick to the main highways, even if it might take a little longer you will have better luck finding volunteers.
• Include the milage and time each leg will take, also include departing and arriving times for each leg, plan on at least 15 minutes per each hand off.
• Update your posts when legs are filled this will help others that might be aiding you in filling your legs, in many cases it's a group effort to get a transport filled.
• All paperwork must accompany the animals being transported and should be passed along with the animal, to avoid any mishaps copies should be faxed to the end rescue before the transport occurs.
• Include as much information on the disposition of animals being transport that you can. let people know if crates are needed or being supplied. if not a seat belt harness should be supplied.
• If an animal is going to a new home it should be neutered before transport. Most lists will not allow posts for intact animals going to new homes and many volunteers will not come forward to help. Stating the new owner will spay/neuter is not enough.
• Include the name and web site for the sending and receiving rescues if the animal is going to rescue, this helps volunteers to verify the rescues involved.
• An overnight maybe needed if you are transporting an animal a great distance, keep in mind transports are very stressful for the animals over doing it could risk the animals health. Most transports average 8 hours, any longer an over night should be considered.
• Once you have your transport mapped out you will need to post them to the many different rescue lists found on various parts of the internet, Yahoogroups is the most popular, Petfinder is another option too.

My legs are Posted now What!

• As volunteers respond to your request of help, email them as quickly as possible to let them know whether or not they're help is needed. You may get multiple responses for the same leg, some times it's not a bad idea to have a back up for some legs.
• Make sure you get the following information from each volunteer, home phone Cell phone if available, and Vehicle make, color and plate numbers.
• As your legs become filled post an updated list to all the lists that you have originaly posted to. This will let people know what legs are still needed. When you do post it helps to put in the top paragraph which legs are still needed.
• Rescuers help each other out, if they see a transport on one list they will cross post it to other lists that they maybe on, or to individuals that they know. It's good to post when you fill all of your legs.
• Once your legs are fill put it's now time to put together your roster. This contains a list of your legs and the volunteers that are doing them. Email everyone involved the roster as soon as possible this will allow everyone to comunicate on meeting spots etc. For finding a good meeting spots try www.interstate4u.com Your roster should include everyone's contact information including email, home phone, cell phone and vehicle information.
• The Coordinator should monitor the transport by having everyone call you when the animals have been handed off to then next driver. This way you can keep everyone abreast of the time and if the transport is behind or ahead of schedule. A final post should go out letting everyone know the dogs/cats arrived safe and sound.