When Pets Fly
HARRISBURG, NC (July 13, 2006) – NASCAR Racing isn’t the only activity flying into New England this weekend in preparation for the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. When the Penske Racing Nextel Cup team plane lands at Laconia (NH) Municipal Airport this evening just prior to 6 p.m., there will be more than just Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge, on board. He’s bringing a couple of new friends along in the form of adoptable puppies.
It’s all part of an annual program which began a few years ago in which several NASCAR drivers and team owners coordinate the transfer of adoptable animals from North Carolina to New Hampshire. The reason? Since the 1970’s, New Hampshire has become a model state of aggressive spaying and neutering programs which lessen the sad consequences of unwanted animal overpopulation. There is literally room to spare for the puppies transported from North Carolina.
Leading the local charge is the New Hampshire Humane Society of Laconia, which just opened the doors to an upgraded $1.3 million facility. Those bringing the adoptable pets are hoping to tour the new building at some point during the busy weekend of racing.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to bring pets to New Hampshire for adoption as they are coming from an area that does not enjoy the same stringent guidelines for spaying and neutering of animals,” said Jodi Geschickter, one of the team owners of the Wood Brothers/JTG Racing Organization. “There are a lot of people that have helped to make this possible, from the Animal Adoption League of North Carolina, Roush Air, Ryan and Krissie Newman and Greg Biffle and Nicole Lunders, who donate their time and resources through the Greg Biffle Foundation and the Ryan Newman Foundation,” she added.
Krissie Newman, the wife of NASCAR driver Ryan Newman added to the point. “The idea is a sound one—to see to it that these puppies have a chance to find a warm and loving home of their own,” she said. “I just returned from New Orleans where we christened the Humane Alliance’s Big Fix Rig—a 53-foot mobile spay/neuter clinic funded by the PETCO Foundation and Bosack & Kruger Foundation. The Rig is part of a post-Katrina $3.2 million spay/neuter initiative in Louisiana and Mississippi. We’ve got to get spay/neuter programs in the south up to the level that they have been in New England for decades,” she added.
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