Approximately 50 dogs have been brought to the Friday Harbor Animal Shelter in search for better lives over the past four years.

“It’s really saving lives and making a huge difference,” said Friday Harbor Animal Shelter Operations Manager Jan Pierce Murphy. “It gives them a much better chance of being adopted as opposed to euthanized.”

Rides for K9s, Gettin’ Them Home Transport and Wings of Rescue all offer passage for shelter dogs (and cats) from urban areas with overflowing shelters to rural areas for adoption.

“In the inner cities and big, highly populated areas, those animal shelters often have over a thousand dogs,” said Pierce Murphy. “The chance of a dog being adopted at one of those, high kill shelters is pretty small.”

Pierce Murphy has credited social media with the ability for these life-saving groups to be created. Because of social media, people are able to learn about dogs that are hundreds of miles away that need relocated or be euthanized. For example, many of the dogs the shelter receives from Rides for K9s come from Southern California.

“It’s fabulous, I always complain about social media but it does save lives,” said Pierce Murphy.