Animal relocation is the next frontier in the fight against animal homelessness. The ASPCA has transport programs on the East and West Coast, both of which are dedicated to moving animals out of overpopulated shelters to areas where they are in higher demand and stand a better chance at adoption. The East Coast Program, named The Nancy Silverman Rescue Ride, helped move 3,481 animals in 2015 alone—one of which was a mixed Jack Russell terrier named Jasper. Here is Jasper’s Happy Tail.

Jasper’s story began last November in Louisiana, where he was one of many dogs languishing in an overcrowded shelter system. We knew that he would have better luck finding a home in New York, where there are fewer dogs of his size and breed available, so we added Jasper to an upcoming transport of 19 dogs from the South. Then, in a final stroke of luck, we met a couple that was just perfect for him.

Elizabeth M. is an ASPCA supporter who had already rescued two tiny Shih-Tzus from the ASPCA Adoption Center on the Upper East Side. The pups, Minnie and Charlotte, are eight years old and weigh a collective 16-lbs. She had gotten them so they would have “each other,” she says, but then Nick entered the picture. “The girls loved their new Daddy and he them, but Nick had other ideas.”

Although Nick’s office allows well-behaved dogs, Minnie and Charlotte’s little legs were not ready for the seven-mile round trip walk that he had begun to make to work each day. On his way through Central Park every morning, Nick admired many heartier dogs, especially one little Jack Russell terrier.

In October, the couple visited England and a friend of Nick’s had two Jack Russells that Nick adored. Afterward, Elizabeth caught him looking at images of them on the Internet. “I knew he was hooked,” she says. The ASPCA was only three blocks from their apartment, so she dropped an email of inquiry. That’s when she learned that Jasper was already on his way up north on the Nancy Silverman Rescue Ride from Louisiana. 

“Jasper would be in quarantine for two weeks, enough time to get Nick used to the idea,” Elizabeth recalls. “He had every reason in the world not to have a new dog at this time. So did I but…I knew this was right.” Nick met Jasper on a Friday morning, after Elizabeth had already met the sweet pooch and introduced her dogs to him. “He was all boy but had been deferential to Minnie and Charlotte’s less boisterous sensibilities, so I thought it would work,” she says. Jasper, on the other hand, knew that he had met his new family at once. He chased balls, pulled on the rope toy and flirted with Nick. “He acknowledged me, but Nick was THE one,” says Elizabeth. They took him home that day.

In the months since his adoption, Jasper has stolen the hearts of everyone in his family—including Minnie and Charlotte. The three pups now meet Nick and Elizabeth at the bedroom door each morning like “the new pack they are.” He also regularly visits his friends at Nick’s office, where he “plays in the hallways like a social director.”

This happy new family is proof that when it comes to finding the perfect pet, no distance is too far. “He’s wonderful,” Nick says. “I’m just completely in love with him.”

To see Jasper in his new home, check out the video below. Congratulations to Nick, Elizabeth, Minnie, Charlotte, and of course, Jasper, on one very successful Rescue Ride!