About 2.7 million companion animals, typically cats and dogs, are euthanized annually in the United States, experts estimate, but a Eugene nonprofit group is making a small dent in the number by bringing to the Pacific Northwest for adoption animals likely slated for euthanasia in California.
Rescue Express, which is celebrating its 5,000th rescue, takes dogs and cats from so-called high-kill shelters in California and transports them to no-kill shelters, rescue groups and homes throughout the Pacific Northwest.
The organization’s founder, Mike McCarthy, has been involved in animal rescue for almost 20 years. He decided to create the nonprofit agency after seeing animals being transported inhumanely.
“I saw people putting 20 to 30 crates in a van, and the animals were overheating,” McCarthy said. “I did a lot of research and decided the school buses were the thing to use, and it’s worked out quite well.”
Read more at the Register-Guard.