It’s hard to get much attention when you’re a puppy in a home with not one, not two, but three litters. That was the situation for six pups the St. Thomas Humane Society picked up and sent this week to Rhode Island to be adopted.
There have been several such flights on American Airlines in the past few months, involving about 20 dogs, said Annabel Hiltz of the Human Society. “And they have ‘comped’ them all.”
The usual cost is $125 for a pet in a carrier under a seat or $250 for one placed below the cabin. The airline isn’t charging any fee for the rescued animals, but does require that each flies with a human passenger who is “responsible” for the pet.
The Human Society, which recruits travelers to accompany the dogs, actually arranges things on both ends of the flight.
Hiltz said the group had approached the airline years ago at the corporate level, but had no luck. More recently, it tried the human approach.
“We walked in there dirty, grubby, and begged,” she said. The response from Ingrid Camsel, manager for St. Thomas, and her immediate superiors, was positive and heart-warming.
The Human Society partners with the Potters League of Rhode Island, an animal shelter near Boston, splitting healthcare costs for the animals, including vaccinations.
Currently there are about 35 dogs at the St. Thomas shelter, and Hiltz said there are nine dogs in foster care now that are destined for Rhode Island.
While the Virgin Islands is overpopulated with stray and unwanted dogs, Potters League actually has a waiting list of about 100 people who want to adopt dogs, she said.
