Wheels in motion

NEW BEST FRIENDS TRANSPORT PROGRAM GIVES HOPE TO ANIMALS ACROSS NEW YORK CITY

We have given lifesaving lifts to more than 1,100 dogs and cats (and even a few bunnies).

ACC staffer Olive Wilkes prepares to transport dogs Pepper and Nikey from ACC to other groups.

“Let’s go for a ride!” Those five words are usually music to a dog’s ears, met with zoomies, tail wags and maybe a few excited barks. But in New York City, those words mean a lot more than a fun trip in the car — they mean lives saved.

In 2005, the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC Animals started the Wheels of Hope program, which set out to move thousands of at-risk pets from Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC) to safe places where they’d be more likely to find homes. While the program was successful, last April it was time to pass the baton (or the wheels, in this case). And who better to pick up the program than Best Friends in New York?

For years, Best Friends has been working alongside ACC and local rescue groups to save animals’ lives in the city and the surrounding area, and by continuing Wheels of Hope, our joint lifesaving impact will only grow. Since May 2019, we have given lifesaving lifts to more than 1,100 dogs and cats (and even a few bunnies), taking pets out of packed ACC shelters and delivering them into the loving arms of partner groups and foster homes across the Northeast.

Of course, transport programs are just one tool in the no-kill toolbox, but to the animals whose lives they save, they mean the world. Those rides are not just to new homes — they’re rides to a bright new future.

Transports are one way that we help Best Friends Network partners across the country. Find out more: bestfriends.org/network-partners