NATCHEZ — Forty-seven dogs and puppies from the Natchez area embarked on a long drive to a new home Thursday night.

The Natchez-Adams County Humane Society and local volunteers worked with The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Animal Relocation Initiative to transport the animals from the local shelter to Sarasota, Fla.

“We have been searching for ways to relocate some of our adoptable dogs to areas of the country where their chances of adoption would be much better, and we asked for assistance from the ASPCA,” NACHS Board Member Kathy Fitch said.

The ASPCA Animal Relocation Initiative helps make the connection between source and destination shelters when there is a need for a transport.

The ASPCA hired the transporter and connected the local shelter with the Humane Society of Sarasota County, Fla., that currently has a big demand for adoptable dogs and puppies.

Loving Friends of Clearwater, Fla., a professional transport company that specializes in transporting pets from disaster areas, puppy mills and shelters, handled the transport.

The Humane Society of Sarasota County selected the dogs and puppies from the NACHS shelter to be transported.

The Natchez shelter receives far more animals than it adopts out, leading to the euthanization of healthy animals. The shelter continually works on ways to help increase adoption rates and decrease or eliminate euthanasia.

Adoptable pets are advertised locally, regionally, and through a pet placement agency in the Northeast United States.

To facilitate regular transports of adoptable pets to shelters in areas of the country where demand for pets is greater, pets must be housed in a facility that meets the minimum standards set by the Shelter Veterinarians Guidelines.

The new NACHS shelter being constructed in 2013 meets those standards.

To view pictures and information on adoptable pets in Natchez, visit www.natchezpetadoptions.org.