PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. — People might remember the fictional “Wizard of Oz” character Dorothy Gale saying, “There’s no place like home.”
That famous quote rings true in the lives of over a dozen Tampa Bay animals in need of homes, which will now be on the East Coast.
Tampa Bay area high schoolers will help animal rescue organizations transport local homeless animals to Long Island, according to a release.
Pinellas County Animal Services, working with national animal rescue organization North Shore Animal League America, will help transport several homeless animals from the Tampa Bay area to its campus in Port Washington, New York, the release said.
Twenty-five students from Richard O. Jacobson Technical High School at Seminole's Veterinary Science program met at the local animal service on Monday morning in Largo to help out.
The mission will provide the animals with temporary homes, where they'll receive veterinary, behavioral, and grooming assistance before they go up for adoption.
The Alonso Foundation donated $10,000 in support of the trip, the release said.
In Florida, more than 8,000 more homeless animals have been admitted into shelters in 2023 than the previous year, according to the University of Florida Shelter Medicine Program's Florida Shelter Animal Census.
Several animal shelters in Tampa Bay also saw increased homeless animal intake last year, causing them to reach capacity.
Long Island-area Mutt-i-gree students will receive the animals when they arrive on Thursday.