FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Two planes carrying homeless dogs from Puerto Rico were off-loaded at the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, Wednesday, as part of a major rescue mission.
“This is a huge operation. The Humane Society in the United States coordinated all of this with Wings of Rescue,” said Cherie Wachter of the Humane Society of Broward.
Wachter said over 200 dogs were rescued.
“Today we have 100 dogs that have landed here in Fort Lauderdale. There is another plane with another 100 dogs that is flying on to North Carolina,” she said. “We have five shelters here in Florida taking the dogs.”
The five shelters are the Humane Societies in Vero Beach, Naples and Broward County, Tri-County in Boca Raton and Big Dog Ranch Rescue.
The dogs were displaced from a window-less shelter in Puerto Rico, which is in serious need of a renovation.
“We’re going to take them back to our shelters, let them rest, evaluate them, give them any vaccinations that are required and then put them up for adoption,” said Wachter.
The mission was called “Operation Grey Muzzle” because many of the dogs are older.
“I see a lot of happy wagging tails. You know, a lot of people come to South Florida to retire, so do these dogs,” said Wachter.
Twenty-four dogs are already housed at the Humane Society in Broward and will be ready for adoption Friday.
“Just looking at them, they look really good and happy. I’m sure some these animals are a little bit shy. They might have grown up in a shelter, so it’s going to take a little bit longer to come out of their shell,” said Wachter.
If you are interested in any of the rescued dogs, click here.
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