It is late Friday night.  In the cold, a light rain was falling. The dogs were quiet and went into the crates without a fuss; though the quarters were cramped, they felt secure and settled down to sleep.  Debbie pulled out onto the highway and drove away from the hills in her 1987 brown beat-up Econovan.  It was dark and peaceful, her favorite time to drive.  She hoped not to hit any strays running along the mountain roads.  The dogs in her van are the lucky ones; they are headed for the Northeast to rescues and shelters where they can escape the neglect and poverty of the Hills of Appalachia.  Donations allow Debbie, a school bus driver, to transport animals out of high-kill shelters in rural Kentucky. Twice a month, she drives to Maryland or Pennsylvania to meet other volunteer drivers who then take the dogs on to rescues in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. She spends about fourteen hours behind the wheel on each trip, and six hours preparing and cleaning up afterwards.  Debbie is not from Appalachia, but felt compelled to leave her job as a social worker in inner-city Chicago and help the forgotten animals in the hills of rural Kentucky.  I have worked with her for the past year, coordinating the transports and dog passenger lists.