At 8 a.m. on a chilly Saturday morning, an animal transport truck from Alabama rolls into the parking lot of Helping Hounds Rescue in Dewitt, New York, carrying 20 dogs and puppies who were saved from southern gas chambers to be adopted by families upstate.

Founder of Pets LLC Kyle Peterson said since demand is so high for this service, what was a hobby has become his full-time job.

"We run a transport every week almost year round from the southeast to the northeast,” Peterson said. “We transport about five to 6,000 animals a year."

Helping Hounds Board Member Tracy Romano said the group works with rescues in other states because the need for good homes is so great across the country.

"The southern shelters are just so overwhelmed with dogs. The euthanasia rates down there is just so sad,” Romano said.”We get lists everyday of mommies and babies, the whole litter being put down. The volunteers down there are dog lovers. They are desperate to get these dogs out the door."

Even with multiple transports happening simultaneously each week, for every dog that is saved, there is still more waiting their turn to catch a ride to a new home.