East Coast Adoptions Transport
This past weekend, I embarked on a new adventure that both terrified and excited me. I was given the opportunity to drive with a co-driver all across the east coast to deliver these babies to their new adoptive families. I’ve made long trips before but I had no idea where all I would be going or who I was going with. I’m a planner and prepper at heart, so having so much that I didn’t know was scary and something I would have normally said “no” to, but something in me said that I should go for it anyways… so I did. I drove out to Spring Branch, met the head of the rescue and my co-driver, loaded up the critters, and headed off to… we still didn’t know. So, we put Marshall, TX in and started to head that way because it was the only direction we had while the head of the rescue figured out a more detailed route. We got to Marshall and got the go ahead to make our way up to Maryland for our first drop.
My co-driver, Emily, took the first shift driving and I, who should have been trying to sleep so that I could be well rested for my turn driving, instead laid in the back of the van on the floor next to Xena, a nervous wreck of a dog that absolutely hated her kennel. We were warned that she would be a flight risk but this was beyond that. There was no containing her. She was going to get out of that kennel regardless of me sitting in front of her actively trying to stop her. We drove this way for 3 hours hoping that she would eventually settle and, despite our best efforts, she never did. So, what do you do with a dog in this situation? After discussing it with the head of the rescue, we decided to see how she would ride outside of the kennel. I opened the door, put a leash on her, and moved back into my seat. Immediately… IMMEDIATELY… this dog calmed right down. Containment was not in her vocabulary and she didn’t plan on making any exceptions to that. She laid between the 2 seats and went to sleep, happy as a clam now that she felt like the walls weren’t closing in on her anymore. Despite our rough start, Xena became my favorite dog on board. (I always love the challenging pets the most…)
We drove and drove and drove some more. When we finally made it to Maryland at our first drop location, I learned that I would absolutely LOVE this part of the journey. You see, these adopters did not walk through a shelter and pick out their new best friend face to face. This is, more often than not, the first time that they have ever laid physical eyes on the cat or dog and the excitement they portray is beautiful. They love to hear how their new friend traveled. They are so appreciative of the effort taken to get them there. They know that we’ve been with these animals for the last 2 to 3 days straight and love to hear about their personalities and quirks. It’s so much different than a normal face to face adoption and it’s something I am so very glad to have experienced. I can’t describe the feeling of pure joy I got each time I handed over a pet to their adoptive families and had the pleasure of witnessing the start of their new lives together. I’m not sure that anything else can really touch that, honestly.
Overall, we made stops in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Ohio, and Michigan. I hadn’t been to many of these states prior to this trip and it was a lot of fun getting to see that side of the country while doing something so cool and rewarding. I also made a new friend out of my co-driver and found that all of my initial worries about this adventure were for not. I’m sitting on the edge of my seat now because I’m so excited for the next transport trip. It was just what my soul needed.
