It’s all over Facebook & in the news: Animal rescue transport is hot!
Animal rescue transport seems to be all the talk these days in the rescue world. From rescue relay transport, to local rides, to airlifts of dogs by the dozens, it seems that no matter where you turn you’ll see something about animal rescue transport in the news or all over Facebook. Of course we’re not saying that’s a bad thing because rescue transport has been something in the shadows for years and it’s nice to see it come into the limelight for a change. But there’s one thing that nobody seems to be talking about and that’s how to make this event proactive instead of reactive.
We should be moving from reactive to proactive when scheduling animal rescue transports.
The typical rescue relay transport starts out with the receiving animal rescue or animal shelter, reaching out to the source animal shelter to secure custody of the animal. Once they have an agreement to transfer the animal, next comes the hardest part, finding reliable transport to get the animal to their destination. Obviously Doobert was born to accommodate rescue relay transport and so many animal rescues create their transport event and sit back hoping to see the transport legs fill so that the relay can be completed successfully. Sometimes the receiving destination has to rely on commercial transporters when there are not enough volunteers or when the timing does not work. But in all of these cases, they are waiting to create the relay ride until after the animal has been secured. That would be like the airlines waiting to determine what routes to fly until you booked a ticket with your from and to destinations.
Regular rescue relay routes are the key to success.
Imagine if we flip the model on it’s head and started booking transport routes on a regular basis, with the same volunteers, and then booked the animals when we knew who needed a ride? Radical thinking right? What’s the worst that could happen? You’re probably thinking that you may not have a passenger to put on the transport when the time comes. But this is where I think things would surprise you. There are already so many animals needing rides local and long distances but there’s just no search engine to find these transportations. (At least there didn’t used to be a search engine, now Doobert has one!) Imagine if all of the people driving on the highways across the country input their upcoming trips and then animal rescues and shelters and even potential adopters could search these trips to book a reservation for an animal. The future is here!
Begin by talking to other volunteers.
You might be wondering, “Where would we begin to make this happen?” Start by having a conversation with the other volunteers in the rescue relay transport. Or maybe a conversation with the transport coordinator or the sending and receiving organizations. Throw the concept out there that “hey we should run this route every 3rd Saturday of the month” or whatever your favorite transport day and see how they react. You just might spark the idea that will revolutionize the animal rescue transport industry.
What’s your big idea? How do we take things to another level and always make sure animals have a ride?
