Operation Chihuahua with Boo the Pomeranian!

This week I had the pleasure of being involved in a Chihuahua airlift from San Francisco to New York, and it was amazing! I’ve been a volunteer photographer for a few years now with San Francisco’s municipal shelter, Animal Care & Control, and they set up the program years ago to transfer unadopted Chihuahuas to New York, thanks to support from the ASPCA in New York and Virgin America. The shelters in California are usually full of chihuahuas (and terrier mix dogs, as well as pitfalls), but these types of dogs are hard to find on the East Coast, and in high demand due to the small living spaces in New York.

This time around we transported 12 chihuahuas across the country, and each of them seemed to kind of enjoy the trip! We were all seated together so we the dogs knew they were all in a group, and each of us took a dog on our lap in an approved carrier. Since it was a six-hour flight, we did put them under the seat in front of us for short periods of time to let them get some rest, but mostly kept them on our laps throughout the flight.

We had a great time, and were ushered along the way with the help of the amazing Boo the Pomeranian as well as Frida, the dog mayor of San Francisco! Here are the photos I took of this magical day!