MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — A Florence nonprofit group teamed up with Southwest Airlines on Saturday for an emergency airlift of shelter animals out of Myrtle Beach.

Lucky Dog Animal Rescue helps in disaster areas by moving shelter animals to a safer place. Founder and CEO Mirah Horowitz said they do this so shelters can focus on pets that are displaced by hurricanes and their community.

“If people are cut off from everything and they can’t feed themselves, they can’t feed their pets either,” Horowitz said. “Those shelters need to be distributing food and helping pet owners, not worrying about animals that have been in their care for months already.”

Lucky Dog Animal Rescue took animals to shelters in Wisconsin and Northern Virginia.

“What we’re doing is taking those animals that were already in their care and getting them out,” Horowitz said. “That allows them to focus on those strays and focus on trying to get those dogs and cats back to their families.”

She said their concern now is on the strays that are coming into the shelters from the impact zone of hurricanes Helene and Milton.

It is two to four weeks of work trying to reunite families with their pets.

“We’re going to have a big problem of a lot of strays that need to move, so this is a long process,” Horowitz said. “This is not something that we can fix or completely alleviate in the short term.”

Horowitz offered some safety tips for anyone with a pet during a bad storm, including microchipping your animal and having an identification tag on the collar.

“Please being your pets inside during the storm,” Horowitz said. “A lot of people have outdoor dogs and outdoor cats, but they need to be brought inside during the storm and that is the best way to keep them safe. If you are evacuating, take your pets with you, they need to go to.”

If you’re interested in helping the efforts of Lucky Dog Animal Rescue, click here.