Dozens of puppies from Labrador arrived at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport Saturday to be adopted.

The group Litters 'n' Critters regularly brings abandoned puppies to Nova Scotia from Labrador, with the help of airlines that donate excess cargo space to the effort.

Their shipments fall off over the summer though, because the heavy tourist season means no spare room in the cargo holds of airplanes.

That means the Labrador SPCA was well over capacity, said Shelley Cunningham, president of Litters n' Critters, a Halifax animal rescue operation.

"If they didn't get into the SPCA in Goose Bay, the chance of survival was very slim."

The Happy Valley-Goose Bay SPCA delivered the pups to Halifax with the help of a plane donated by FedEx Canada.

"About two-and-a-half weeks ago, a supporter of the SPCA in Labrador actually tweeted us at FedEx Canada and said 'you guys are our last hope, if you can't get these puppies down to Halifax, there's pretty dire consequences for these dogs,'" Adrian Grundy, spokesman for FedEx Canada, said.

"We were just more than happy to help them out."

Puppy challenge

Getting the puppies was a bit of a challenge.

Judging by this pup's howls, it couldn't wait to touch Halifax soil. (CBC)

FedEx doesn't have an aircraft operating out of Goose Bay. So one large enough to carry the puppies was brought in from Montreal.

Then, kennels were rented in Halifax to house the dogs. The kennels were brought from Halifax to Goose Bay to load onto the plane.

The pups received a warm welcome in Halifax. About 100 people gathered at the airport to welcome the new arrivals.

The dogs were taken to a veterinary hospital to be checked out and vaccinated.

Litters n' Critters will ensure they go to good homes.

Grundy said it was a treat to be a part of the day.

"You look at the puppies and you know they're going to get great homes ... then you look at all the people who turned out today from Halifax just to cheer on the arrival of these puppies," he said.