Transport, Transfer, & Partnerships | Best Friends Animal Society

Find positive outcomes for pets through programs that transfer and transport pets from shelters to rescue partners.

Create lifesaving movement in the animal welfare ecosystem by creating more transfer and transport partnerships, opening up space in shelters for those in need. Collaborate to develop these lifesaving partnerships, and give pets in your community (and beyond) their best chance of adoption.

Get the help you need

Find the answers you need for common questions related to transport, transfer, and partnerships.

Transport Connection Map

Locate shelters, rescues, and transport groups to expand lifesaving capacity through collaboration.

People transporting big dog in crate

Transport Training for Lifesaving Results

Learn best practices to save more lives and strengthen cross-region animal transports.

Houston Best Friends van.

Best Friends Animal Transport Volunteer Playbook

Empower volunteers to help manage, coordinate, and ensure safe transport for animals in need.

Volunteer holding dog

Building Successful Transport Partnerships

Learn strategies to build effective, long-lasting partnerships that support lifesaving efforts.

Two people transporting a crate

Transport, Transfer, & Partnerships

39 results

Studies & Publications

Shelter Pet Lifesaving Data 2025 Mid-Year Report

January–June 2025 data report shows important progress — and how to keep going, to reach no-kill.

Kittens on a table pawing at each other, with a scrubbed in employee behind them.

Webinars & Videos

Rescue Roundtable On-Demand

Rescue Roundtable was created to support rescue organizations in becoming high-volume lifesaving partners. These previously recorded sessions feature expert-led discussio...

Person transporting two crated cats from a van.

Resources & Tools

Building Collective Momentum: Strategies to Increase Transfers and Adoptions

Building Collective Momentum: Strategies to Increase Transfers and Adoptions

Woman putting dog in crate for transport

Resources & Tools

Building Lifesaving Partnerships Resources

Resources for Successful Rescue Partnerships and Animal Transport

Two people transporting husky in a crate

The Best Friends Podcast Ep. 129: Responsible Transport

Transport has been a critical lifesaving program for many years. Animals from under-resourced communities overwhelmed with homeless pets are transported to another where ...

woman holding a dog in front of an animal welfare transport van

The Best Friends Podcast Ep. 127: Shifting your mission

It’s not unusual for an organization to drift away from its mission statement, purpose, and goals. Over time, the landscape in a community can change to the point that th...

kittens in an animal shelter

The Best Friends Network Regional Summits

The Best Friends Network Regional Summits

two dogs tilting heads

Webinars & Videos

Vlog Ep. 42

Can mentorships offer specialized help for shelters?

Animal Control Officer in red shirt holding an orange and white kitten

Webinars & Videos

Vlog Ep. 41

How two unlikely shelters came together on a life-saving project

Shelter staff and BF staff member standing in front of truck

The Best Friends Podcast Ep. 115: Dr. Louiza Chan

The animal welfare field is full of incredible people doing extraordinary things to save lives. This week we chatted with one of them, the regional strategist for the sou...

Dr. Louiza Chan - Best Friends Animal Society

The Best Friends Podcast Ep. 106: Shelter collaborative program (part two)

This week we hear from Shelbi Waters, the executive director of the animal shelter in Minot, North Dakota, and Kasey Renteria, the executive director for the animal shelt...

map of the united states

The Best Friends Podcast Ep. 105: Shelter Collaborative Program

Collaboration comes in many forms. Maybe the most common type of collaboration in our work is through a coalition—an often large group comprised of stakeholders teaming u...

litter of cute kittens

Webinars & Videos

Community-Supported Sheltering Town Hall

Community-Supported Sheltering: Aligning all stakeholders in the welfare of animals in your community

Brown dog looking over fence next to person in blue shirt

Spokane agencies collaborate

Spokane agencies collaborate to bridge gap between human/animal services

Two women sitting at table looking at computer while one holds dog on leash

The Best Friends Podcast Ep. 93: How to establish and grow your animal rescue transport partnerships

This episode is another fantastic session from the 2021 Best Friends National Conference. The presenter, Clare Callison from American Pets Alive!, shares her experience b...

Best Friends Podcast guest Clare Callison from American Pets Alive!

The Best Friends Podcast Ep. 91: Serving both ends of the leash in Spokane

When there is a pet in need, there is often a person in need. That intersection of people and pets is at the heart of a new partnership in the state of Washington.

Puppy held by a woman

Browse by related topics

Pet Adoption

Strategic Intake & Pathway Planning

Animal Care & Disease Prevention

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About the Best Friends Network

The network is a free community of over 5,000 animal welfare organizations, including shelters, rescue groups, spay/neuter groups, transport groups, and other support organizations.

The Best Friends Network is your support system in your journey to save the lives of dogs and cats in your communities. Network partners gain access to exclusive challenges, grants, resources, and dedicated support.

Connect with partners across the country, access proven strategies, and collaborate to increase lifesaving nationwide.

Two tiny puppies sitting on the floor side-by-side, with one waving

Meet the team

The Best Friends Network team is your lifeline to support for your organization, collaboration with other network partners and connection with Best Friends experts, resources, funding opportunities and so much more.

Let’s be friends!

Connect with us on social media to stay in the loop about the lifesaving progress we’re making together. 