Rescue groups fill demand for pets by transporting more-at-risk Southern dogs to the Northeast

In some rural areas, especially in the South, it's not unusual to see stray dogs roaming towns or countrysides in search of food and shelter. In many cases, those dogs are former pets left to fend for themselves because of the high costs of caring for them. In other instances, unsterilized dogs have reproduced, overcrowding shelters and forcing large numbers of animals to be euthanized.

But some organizations have discovered that the South's overcrowded animal population can be a blessing for other areas where pets are in low supply, novelist J. Courtney Sullivan writes for The New York Times. "Many of the dogs that are routinely euthanized in Southern states—healthy Labs, hounds, shepherds and others, including puppies of various breeds—are in high demand in the Northeast, where low-cost spay and neuter services are the norm, kill rates are down and there are exponentially more potential adopters."

Last year, Long Island's North Shore Animal League America, a no-kill rescue and adoption organization, placed 6,672 dogs from Southern states, more than 5,000 of them puppies, in homes in New York, Sullivan writes. (NSALA photo: This puppy was one of 63 dogs rescued from a Mississippi shelter damaged by a tornado)

Volunteers have also been key, she writes. "People in Southern states are using Facebook and Petfinder to post pictures of homeless dogs. They find local volunteers who agree to temporarily foster the animals and make connections with groups like Badass Brooklyn Animal Rescue. Despite having little funding and no formal shelter space, the group has found homes for 1,200 Southern dogs since 2011."

Another group, P.E.T.S., based in Tennessee, "makes weekly pickups in seven Southern states and drop-offs in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New England and New York," Sullivan writes. "P.E.T.S. has relocated more than 50,000 dogs in 10 years." (Read more)