RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) – Hundreds of flights come in and out of Richmond International Airport each day, but one of the arrivals Thursday morning was one of a kind.

130 dogs and cats were aboard the Wings of Rescue flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Richmond. They are some of the thousands who need saving from the streets of San Juan that were devastated by Hurricane Fiona over two weeks ago.

“The devastation [is] not as bad as Florida, but you can just tell the particular water damage and the wind harm to the particular shelters as well coming in there through Hurricane Fiona, ” Peter Hoover, the pilot within this rescue mission, said.

The special delivery has been handed to animal rescue groups across Virginia, including Richmond SPCA, where 10 of the dogs will be put up for adoption.

“Bringing these animals in order to Virginia exactly where they’re going to find wonderful homes as pets – it’s just such a rewarding testament to what we do, ” Tabitha Treloar with Richmond SPCA stated.

Treloar mentioned the save wouldn’t be possible without the help of Petco Love -who donated $62, 000 — and Wings of Save, who provided the flight.

“We are usually concurrently flying from Storm Ian in Florida. We’ve been doing flights from there, so we are responding to two hurricanes at the same time, ” Ric Browde, president and CEO of Wings of Recovery, said.

He said nearly 3, 000 more animals still need saving from Puerto Vasto.

“I’m going back on Saturday to fly some more that are heading up to Chicago, ” Browde said. “Where there is a need, we will be there. ”

And so will the particular shelters, like Richmond SPCA, ensuring these types of little ones have a new and safe place to call home.

“We have more require that we want to respond to, and all of us want to be able to say yes, and it’s our community that – together – is going to help us say yes to the next dogs who need to come in order to the Richmond SPCA.

Treloar said tests will require to become run on the particular dogs for at least 10 days before they’re available for adoption. Once that is complete, they will share a photo from the canines from Puerto Rico on their website .

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