HAYDEN — As the Chihuahua peered from the cage door of its kennel, Debbie Jeffrey greeted it with a smile.

“Hi Bella," the executive director of the Kootenai Humane Society said to the timid dog on a sunny Wednesday afternoon at the Coeur d’Alene Airport.

A moment later, a volunteer picked up the kennel and carried it to a waiting vehicle for a quick trip to KHS, less than a mile away. Bella was one of 22 canines, including 14 puppies, delivered by plane from Tulsa, Okla., where they were marked for death.

“If we didn’t take them, they would die,” said Vicky Nelson, KHS development director.

Here, the hope is every one of them will find a better life and a home, which Nelson fully expects.

Once the dogs are examined, spayed and neutered, they could be ready for adoption this weekend.

“We do not have a problem getting animals adopted,” Nelson said.

The dogs were delivered on Pilatus PC-12 single-engine turboprop cargo plane by Wings of Rescue and Fetch, nonprofits dedicated to saving animals at risk of being put down.

Angela Keeling, co-pilot along with husband Kale Garcia, said the five-hour flight, with kennels stacked closely together, went well. While the dogs bark with excitement during takeoff and landing, they’re quiet once in the air.

Their time on the ground at the Coeur d’Alene Airport was brief. It took less than 30 minutes to unload the dogs and fuel up. Then, they were off to Everett, Wash., where two shelters were waiting to take the remaining 20 dogs. From there, their home in Bend, Ore., was their final destination after a long day of air travel.

Keeling said when the Tulsa shelter is overcrowded, dogs may be euthanized to make room for more.

“There’s just more puppies than they know what to do with,” Jeffrey said.

According to animal-shelter-statistics, about a million dogs and cats are euthanized each year in the U.S., oftentimes just because there is no space for them.

That’s where Wings of Rescue steps in.

When a shelter lets it be known it has dogs at risk of being put down, Wings of Rescue contacts other shelters to see if they have space for them. If they do, a flight is arranged.

Wednesday, KHS had only two dogs on its website as available for adoption, so it had room for more, Nelson said.

KHS is in the midst of a capital campaign for a new, 24,000-square-foot shelter, which would double the capacity of its 40-year-old Hayden facility. The goal is to raise $6.5 million. So far, $4.7 million has come in.

The 14 puppies that arrived Wednesday were described as seven labs and seven pit bull/shepherd mixes.

“They’re little pittie pups, they’re so cute,” said KHS employee Mary Powell. “We’ll get them a home.”

The older dogs included a Border Collie, two lab mixes, a pit bull and a Jack Russell Terrier.

“If we can relocate them to where people are looking, they have a chance for getting adopted,” Keeling said.

She said the program combines two things she and her husband love: flying and animals.

“To be able to put the two of those together is a great mission for us,” Keeling said. “To be a small part of a solution for them, combined with everything we love, I think that’s what everyone is looking for in life.”