The Humane Society of Vero Beach and Indian River County (HSVB) is partnering with NBCUniversal Local, Greater Good Charities, The Animal Rescue Site and Hill’s Pet Nutrition on two special life-saving airlift flights this month to coincide with Clear the Shelters, NBCUniversal’s annual pet adoption and donation campaign that runs August 1-31.

The Clear the Shelters airlifts will focus on cats and dogs from overpopulated shelters in Florida and Louisiana, and will include vulnerable pets, like asymptomatic heartworm positive shelter dogs, homeless cats and large dogs. The pets will be transported to shelters in Massachusetts and New Jersey, where they will be evaluated and receive needed medical care before being put up for adoption.

The airlifts are part of Greater Good Charities’ Good Flights program and funded by Hill’s Pet Nutrition and The Animal Rescue Site. The special missions are scheduled to celebrate the month long 2022 Clear the Shelters campaign, when NBC and Telemundo partner with shelters and rescues to promote pet adoption and raise needed funds. Since its 2015 inception, Clear the Shelters has helped more than 700,000 pets find new homes

To kickoff Clear the Shelters, the first flight is scheduled for Aug. 2 and will include approximately 150 cats from South Florida. The chartered plane will depart Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport at approximately 7 a.m. ET and arrive at New Bedford Regional Airport in Massachusetts between 12 and 1 p.m. ET. The cats will be received by Northeast Animal Shelter and MSPCA-Angell in Massachusetts and Monadnock Humane Society in New Hampshire.

Other south Florida shelters participating in the mission are Humane Society of Broward County, Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League, and Humane Society of the Treasure Coast.

“Summertime is when our Florida shelters are completely filled up with cats, and these flights are going to make a tremendous difference for all of us. I am grateful to all of the people and groups who are making this possible,” stated CEO, Kate Meghji.

HSVB will be participating in the annual Clear the Shelters event again this year later this month. For more information about Clear the Shelters event or how you can sponsor, please call 772-388-3331 for details.