LEXINGTON, Ky. — In January, the BISSELL Pet Foundation rescued more than 300 animals from a shelter in Arkansas. 

Communication Specialist Bri Olson said BISSELL Pet Foundation works to rescue animals in need and helps get them to locations where they can be taken care of and adopted.

“It was overcrowded, and the shelter just ultimately lacked the resources to keep up with the demand. Not to mention, over like 100 dogs were actually living in outdoor kennels and it was freezing out, so we needed to get them out of there quickly,” Olson said.

Olson said seeing the dogs at the shelter was heartbreaking, and unfortunately it’s a common issue they see in most southern shelters.

BISSELL Pet Foundation partnered up with 16 humane societies around the United States and were able to get these animals into populated areas for a better chance at being adopted.

“Sometimes with our southern shelters who are in rural areas, there's just nobody coming. It's a constant cycle of overpopulation which is why it is so important to spay and neuter your pets,” Olson said.

One of the 16 shelters was the Lexington Humane Society, taking in 12 of the dogs that were from Arkansas. Ashley Hammond, director of fundraising with the Lexington Humane Society says a few of those dogs have already found their forever home. 

“We are going to save more lives and help in pet overpopulation. We really have to do it, and everybody has to pitch in and we are more than glad to do it. We took in 12 animals and several of them we had multiple cases of heartworm positive dogs. So those heartworm positive dogs are in foster care,” Hammond said.