About 60 dogs from Oxford will definitely get to play in the snow this coming winter.

Oxford-Lafayette Humane Society will start the long haul up to Minneapolis tonight with the pups in hopes they will find forever homes through the Animal Humane Society in Minnesota.

The rescue is taking adult dogs and puppies instead of the normal request for all puppies, and that is great news for the shelter’s executive director, Jenn Petermann.

“They have several locations, and last year they adopted out over 7,000 animals,” she said. “They have a veterinarian at every location. The stuff that we can’t even fathom. They understand the things we are facing.”

Also good news for OLHS is the fact the Minnesota rescue has so many resources that it can spay and neuter dogs that are shipped up there and even treat for things like heartworms.

“The biggest challenge is getting them there,” Petermann said. “You have to get the animals to them.”

To do that, OLHS is loading up a Sprinter van, which can accommodate all 60 and at least two drivers. The drivers will take turns and will stop along the way for a potty break and leg-stretching for the dogs.

Petermann recently took 43 dogs to Lebanon, Tennessee, to get on a transport headed to Washington, D.C., with Wolf Trap Rescue. She’s excited about the rescue partnerships and the chances to save lives.

“It’s the only way we’ll get on top of this,” she said. “Yes, through spaying and neutering, but the ones that are here are here. So unless we can transport them out to areas that don’t have the overpopulation, there’s not 300 people lined up to adopt here.”

Currently the shelter has about 140 dogs and cats inside its walls on McElroy Drive, and another 100 in foster care.