Southwest Airlines Flew A Cabin Full Of Dogs And Cats Displaced By Harvey To Safety

This is one flight we would have gladly boarded.

Southwest Airlines recently flew with a cabin full of dogs and cats rescued from Texas shelters. They teamed up with the rescue group  Operation Pets Alive!, and San Diego’s Helen Woodward Animal Center to get these displaced pets to safety.

It just doesn’t get more adorable than that.

According to a press release, the plane flew more than 60 animals to the San Diego shelter location, and they will be up for adoption soon.

“We’re so happy to partner with the Helen Woodward Animal Center to extend hope to Houston by transporting shelter animals to a new home in San Diego, while making additional space for family pets whose humans are currently displaced,” Linda Rutherford, Southwest Airlines Chief Communications Officer, said in a statement. “Our Employees care so deeply for our Customers and all those impacted by Hurricane Harvey, including our sweet little four-legged friends.”

And this rescue mission proves the lengths folks are willing to go to in order to keep these pets safe. Because as the President of Helen Woodward Animal Center, Mike Arms, points out, animals are victims in these types of situations, too.

“These are the silent victims,” he said in a statement. “There are shelters that have been devastated by Hurricane Harvey, without electricity, without supplies. Operation Pets Alive! has taken in an overwhelming number of orphan dogs and cats who had inhabited those shelters before the storm and were suddenly facing euthanasia simply because they had no place to go. We are honored to help save those lives and we are lucky to have incredible friends like Southwest to help make this all possible.”

Four medical personnel from the San Diego shelter were on-board the flight to make sure everything went smoothly. What a job to have!

Of course, this wasn’t the only pet rescue mission made since Hurricane Harvey, and they’re happening by plane and by car.

Brother Wolf Animal Rescue helped transport 46 dogs and eight cats from Texas to North Carolina in a 15-hour drive and have planned for more drives to continue to help save pets with nowhere to go. You can donate to their cause by visiting their website, their Fundly page or by sending mail here: P.O. Box 8195, Asheville, N.C. 28814. Mark all donations “Hurricane Harvey.”

Whether you’re looking to adopt one of the animals or to donate, there are several organizations that you can turn to. They’re working to save animals, and that’s certainly a cause we can get behind! Here are just a few ways you can help animals affected by Harvey.

And as Floridians prepare for Hurricane Irma, 40 lucky dogs were flown from Miami shelters to New York on Georgina Bloomberg’s private plane (she’s the daughter of billionaire and former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg).