Sabrina Black lets out a worried sigh as she and her driving partner, Elaina Rodriguez, study the weather forecast. It’s a Sunday morning in January, and they are planning to drive from Beaumont, Texas, to Sterling, Massachusetts, a grueling 1,750-mile journey. Forecasters predict that the two will encounter ice, snow and blizzard conditions as their route turns northward. Black, a native Texan, has never navigated icy roads. Neither has Rodriguez, a veterinarian who recently moved from Australia. But the women aren’t worried for themselves. It’s the precious cargo they’re carrying in their shuttle bus that concerns them: 19 dogs on their way to new homes.
Black and Rodriguez are volunteers for Hearts 2 Homes, a Beaumont Pets Alive program that transports animals slated for euthanasia at the overpopulated city shelter…