FedEx, NBA team up to airlift pets left behind in Florida after Irma [VIDEO]

After delivering more than $11 million worth of critical supplies for Florida relief workers on Friday in the wake of Hiurricane Irma, FedEx gave a free ride to more than 150 dogs and cats that had been stranded by the storm during last week’s evacuation.

Today, the rescued animals are safely in no-kill shelters in San Francisco Bay area, with the help of nonprofit groups Direct Relief and Heart to Heart International, as well as the NBA franchises the Miami HEAT and the Golden State Warriors. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals provided ground transportation for many of the animals upon their arrival at the Oakland International Airport to the Marin Humane Society and the Humane Society for Southwest Washington, where they will eventually be made available for adoption.

Here’s a video summarizing the efforts for these lost canines:

https://vimeo.com/234080235

“On behalf of our 400,000 FedEx team members, we take great pride in using our global network to deliver hope and help in times of crisis,” said David J. Bronczek, president and chief operating officer of FedEx Corp.  “We are inspired by the passion of these organizations and their drive to make a difference in the world.”

Members of the Miami Heat and Golden State Warroiors professional basketball teams turned out on Sept. 15 to promote FedEx’s airlift and raise awareness about the overcrowding crisis at local shelters in Miami as a result of the storm. “As residents of South Florida, we have experienced our fair share of hurricanes through the years and we are keenly aware of the challenges before, during and after a storm,” said Eric Woolworth, president of the Heat Group’s business operations. “Displaced or abandoned pets are helpless and heartbreaking casualties of a hurricane’s aftermath.”

Meanwhile, the resources that had been flown in were delivered to community health centers and clinics across Florida, in coordination with the Florida Association of Community Health Centers, as well as to hospitals on the storm-ravaged Caribbean islands of Anguilla, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and British Virgin Islands.

This special relief flight is part of the company’s FedEx Cares initiative, through which FedEx will invest US$200 million in more than 200 global communities by 2020 to create opportunities and deliver positive change around the world.

 For more information on FedEx’s relief effort, please visit: https://about.van.fedex.com/blog/2017-hurricane-season