Oilman Pays for Airlift of Dogs to California

The first major airlift of dogs from the Gulf Coast left Louisiana on Sunday, carrying about 80 pets to temporary homes in California.

The Continental Airlines flight from Baton Rouge, La., was chartered for about $50,000 by Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens and his wife, Madeleine, in a mission dubbed “Operation Pet Lift.”

Some dogs were placed in cages in the cargo section; others rode in the passenger cabin.

“They’d been in cages far too long. We felt like they needed to be free, so they sat on our laps, and we played with them the whole way,” said Christine Penrod, Madeleine Pickens’ sister, who was on the flight.

About half the dogs were headed for San Diego, and the rest were bound for San Francisco. Sunday’s move was organized by PetRelocation.com, based in Austin, Texas.

“The goal was to help rescue 200 dogs,” Pickens’ spokesman Jay Rosser said. “They’re overjoyed that they were able to rescue 80 but clearly disappointed and dismayed at the bureaucracy, which prevented them from taking the full 200.”

Organizers complained that some legal requirements were impractical, such as waiting out a 30-day quarantine before transporting the animals from the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center and 4-H Center in Gonzales, La.

Kelly Harrington, director of disaster response services for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said she hoped that additional dogs would be flown out but that the effort was taking time.

“Every animal has to be vet-checked, vaccinated and microchipped

The Humane Society’s Dave Pauli, director of the Gonzales facility, said 200 animals were trucked Sunday to Houston, and rescue teams expected to bring in about 300 more in the afternoon.