Dozens of dogs made a pit stop in Blount County Wednesday night during their trip from Louisiana to New Jersey.
Nearly 30 volunteers from Pet Safe, Animal Works and the community helped shelter dogs during a much needed break at the Animal Works clinic.
There dogs took a potty break, ate food and stretched their legs.
The ASPCA hopes the relocation will help the 40 dogs find forever homes. Some local dogs also hitched a ride to New Jersey.
"We do have a couple of dogs here at Animal Works that have been waiting for homes for way too long. So in order to speed things up a bit and get them homes more quickly, we're going to add them to this transport and send them on their way as well," said Jim Tedford with Pet Safe.
Pet Safe volunteers say this is a much needed program in East Tennessee. They hope to transport even more shelter animals to other regions with higher adoption rates in years to come.