Derek Dellinger FOX CAROLINA
Mass Animal Rescue Happening This Weekend
September 23, 2014
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  • GREENVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina) – An Upstate-based group is preparing for a big animal rescue operation this weekend.

    Pilots N Paws said dozens of pilots will be taking part in taking in hundreds of dogs and cats that will be flown across the country and eventually to new homes.

    The pets will be animals taken in from rescue groups as a way to save them from overcrowding situations, which have become common in some area animal care groups.

    “We need to treat them better,” said organizer Debi Boies. “If we don’t, who will?”

    Greenville Co. Animal Care said they take in around 20,000 pets a year just through their doors.  Many are adopted out or rescued, but some are euthanized.

    This weekend’s rescue effort comes as state lawmakers are tackling animal laws in a series of town hall meetings. Critics say the state’s animal laws are lax and lawmakers said they’re working to change that.

    “We’re going to make sure nobody inflicts injury on any animal, if we can prevent it,” said State Sen. Paul Campbell. “If you do it purposefully, we’re gonna stop it.”

    Both lawmakers and animal groups said that attitudes about animals need to change in South Carolina, ranging on everything from abuse, to hoarding, to spaying and neutering of pets.

    “Until the general public takes responsibility for not creating more animals than there are homes for, this is going to be the situation here,” Boies said.

    http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/26610904/rescue-groups