Stray San Antonio dogs on the way to adoptive families in...

About 70 adopted stray dogs left the Alamo City in style Saturday afternoon for new homes in New England.

The chosen pups are being taken inside an Alamo Rescue Friends recently purchased transport van.

With names that spanned the alphabet, such as Lalo, Rocco and Willow, the pooches were spirited away in the nonprofit’s official vehicle from the Petco at Richland Hills Drive more than 2,000 miles north, where the number of possible adopters outnumber dogs up for adoption.

ARF co-founder Virginia Davidson said the nonprofit bought the van through a grant from the Petco Foundation, a charity that invests in pet lifesaving initiatives across the country.

“For homeless dogs in San Antonio, ARF’s transport program is a lifeline,” Davidson said in a statement. “Thanks to the generous support of the Petco Foundation, ARF can now save even more lives and have a greater impact on San Antonio’s efforts to reach and sustain ‘No Kill’ status.”

Founded five years ago, ARF, an all volunteer group, has transported to New England close to 2,000 dogs pulled from Animal Care Services. In the past, each trip cost more than $2,000, which covered renting a van and gas, paid for, Davidson said, by generous donors.

They’ve transported dogs of all ages and breeds, many with serious injuries, but ARF organizers said when word spreads about the dogs’ arrival, there’s a line of people waiting to meet them.

Before each journey, the dogs spend three weeks in foster homes before transport to the rescue shelters in New England. In what’s become an ARF ritual, volunteers and fosters gather at the departure site for last minute hugs and ruffling of fur before bidding the dogs farewell.

Updates on recently departed dogs include pictures of Midas, a stray found sleeping on a local golf course, who now jogs with his family in New Hampshire, and Gavin, pictured with children standing outside of a snow fort.

Ivy is pictured on the docks with her kneeling adoptive family.

San Antonio residents can sponsor a dog’s trip and track the adoption stories at ARF’s website, alamorescuefriends.org.

vtdavis@express-news.net