When the cargo airplane touched down on the tarmac at Kennedy International Airport on Friday afternoon, a cacophonous barking might be heard coming from the maintain.
Maad Abu-Ghazalah stood on the runway under, anxiously ready. There had been precisely 69 dogs onboard, all from his shelter within the West Bank. The maintain opened and a set of eyes caught his by means of a crate door: It was Lucas.
Then got here Jimmy, Carlos, Farouk, Zoe, all of whom Mr. Abu-Ghazalah had cared for at Daily Hugz, the rescue facility he arrange in Asira ash-Shamaliya, outdoors his hometown, Nablus. The dogs had been principally deserted, many had been feral and various them had misplaced legs after being hit by vehicles.
The shelter had been “like paradise,” Mr. Abu-Ghazalah stated. But in December, as circumstances within the West Bank deteriorated amid the Israel-Hamas struggle, he determined he might not preserve it operating. So he known as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals International. And the S.P.C.A. known as the ARK.
The ARK at J.F.Okay. is one thing Noah himself couldn’t have imagined: a privately owned, round the clock operation at New York’s largest airport constructed to accommodate a variety of visitors with quite a lot of wants, from purebred racehorses to unique zoo animals.
The facility, which encompasses 14 acres and 178,000 sq. ft, prepares animals to fly world wide, ensuring they’re calm, touring at snug temperatures and outfitted with sufficient meals and water. It additionally receives animals after they arrive in New York, quarantining them if vital and getting ready them for the following steps of their journey.
Lori Kalef, the director of applications for S.P.C.A. International, stated that in the seven years the ARK has operated out of Kennedy, 90 p.c of the 1,300 dogs and cats she has rescued from abroad have come by means of the power.
On Friday morning, a team of workers and volunteers from her organization gathered round a convention desk on the ARK’s workplaces to debate crates and harnesses. They had encountered many logistical challenges as they labored to maneuver the dogs from the West Bank, and the flight had been delayed a number of occasions.
But then, the decision got here in that the dogs can be arriving quickly, and the group walked anxiously towards the ARK’s “pet oasis,” a full-service kennel for cats, dogs and the occasional goat. Ms. Kalef performed the “The Final Countdown” out loud on her cellphone.
Once the dogs landed, they had been introduced on to the oasis, the place all 69 of them would relaxation for the night time earlier than persevering with on to their new properties.
Mr. Abu-Ghazalah, who lives in Wilmington, N.C., stated that he wouldn’t really feel relaxed till all of the dogs had been settled into their new properties throughout the nation, however he was grateful that their first cease was the ARK.
“Would you have thought about how there’s got to be a place to get them to after they’re off the plane?” he stated. “You would have thought you’ll arrive in the U.S. and distribute them magically. But the ARK has been amazing.”
John J. Cuticelli Jr., the ARK’s founder, and Elizabeth A. Schuette, its chief government, consulted carefully with Cornell University’s famend veterinary program and Temple Grandin, the famous animal scientist, whereas designing and building the operation.
There are dozens of kennels, three horse barns and a veterinary clinic. There are rooms that might be put aside for avian quarantines, and areas that appear to be empty showers, that are designed to be full of water and frozen in case a penguin comes to remain. In brief, this ARK was constructed to deal with something.
There are two principal elements to the ARK’s business: equine import and export — it sees round 5,000 horses shipped every year — and small animal care. All horses that land at Kennedy should undergo the power, however since many pets journey with their house owners, rescue operations make up a good portion of the small animal exercise.
The ARK works with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to securely transport the animals. The businesses have totally different protocols and security expectations, so typically employees need to make troublesome calls.
For instance, the ARK as soon as obtained a gaggle of venomous reptiles for cargo, saved in crates, that had flown in from one other nation. The transport agent anticipated them to be loaded on a passenger airplane — an thought Ms. Schuette didn’t agree with.
The regulation governing the switch was slim, she stated, and targeted on the well being of the animals, not the individuals they may are available contact with. No one was stepping again and searching on the total state of affairs, which might finish badly if, effectively, the snakes acquired free on the airplane.
Once the airline came upon, it canceled the cargo. Now, the ARK had a bunch of venomous reptiles — half certain for Texas, the opposite half for Florida — with nowhere to go; the ARK lastly helped the dealer work out different floor transportation.
The specialists on the ARK are additionally known as upon to deal with varied crises that come up on the airport.
A couple of years in the past, a frantic name got here in from a passenger flight that was being unloaded. A big field of bees had come free and rogue bees had been escaping, however all of the transport directions had been in Spanish and nobody knew what to do. The ARK’s handlers drove throughout the tarmac and used netting to safe the bee enclosure.
The episodes spotlight the vary of issues the power’s employees could have to resolve on a given day.
“I think it gives a comfort level to our customers, and also to other brokers and agencies that are sending animals to us,” Ms. Schuette stated. “We’re going to do it right.”
The ARK started as an surprising enterprise for Mr. Cuticelli, after a profession building a household actual property business, creating a non-public fairness fund and specializing in shopping for bankrupt corporations.
He started negotiating with the Port Authority, which operates J.F.Okay., to take over its animal terminal in 2011. It would take three years, almost $2 million in authorized charges and the work of 11 legislation corporations to signal the lease, and one other three years and a $65 million funding for the ARK to open.
Mr. Cuticelli and Ms. Schuette, his spouse and business associate, had no background in animal transport and had not initially deliberate to function the power themselves. But after years of planning and analysis, they modified their minds.
“We were determined,” Ms. Schuette stated.
“Insanity,” Mr. Cuticelli known as it.
After a rocky begin involving a $426 million State Supreme Court lawsuit over exclusivity rights, the ARK started working to safe agreements to deal with the animals transported by each airline that operates out of Kennedy.
While it now has agreements with most of the airways, Ms. Schuette’s objective for this yr is to finalize contracts with the remaining holdouts.
Mr. Cuticelli stated he estimated that the ARK at the moment owns about 60 p.c of the equine import market within the United States, a quantity he expects to extend to 70 p.c by the tip of the yr.
On a recent foggy morning, an Icelandair cargo airplane landed on Runway 4 at Kennedy and taxied on to the ARK’s again door. Among the cargo unloaded by groundskeepers had been 12 Icelandic ponies — purebred, top-of-the-line, valued for his or her versatility and docility.
After a foot bathtub, a hose-down and a two-day quarantine, six would head to Vermont, 4 to Kentucky and two would take a highway journey to California.
Each pony had a monitoring quantity, a medical historical past and, crucially, a passport. Christian Rakshys, the dealer overseeing the cargo, carefully monitored the import and confirmed every horse’s particulars.
Mr. Rakshys, a managing associate at Global Horse Transport, had a particular curiosity within the Icelandic ponies. He and his son, who has particular wants, are planning a visit to Iceland this summer season to select a pony, as a result of the breed is particularly valued for therapeutic driving.
On the opposite facet of the ARK, on the identical day, Stella, a Bernese Mountain puppy, patiently waited within the pet oasis. A Lufthansa airline strike had left Stella stranded after her proprietor had flown out, however she was certain for a reunion in Germany and would board a red-eye later that night time.
Until then, Stella bunked with the opposite oasis residents, primarily a rambunctious group of beagles employed by authorities businesses for airport safety.
The beagles are a number of the facility’s solely everlasting visitors. The relaxation — a gaggle that over the years has included lions, parrots, eagles, badgers, sloths, a capybara, a bearcat and an anteater — are often simply stopping by means of.
“You can ship pretty much everything,” Ms. Schuette stated.
