We do not return crates for two reasons. First, we do not have a washing station at airports and therefore are unable to sanitize crates between uses. Second, we need to unload crates to make room for different sized crates. We may arrive in San Francisco with six black labs in medium to large crates from Idaho and then fly to Sacramento to load 30 chihuahuas in small crates. If we had to return six crates to Idaho, we would not be able to rescue 30 chihuahuas from Sacramento. Saving lives comes first. We do our best to recirculate crates and always ask that the receiving partners bring clean empty crates when they pick up their animals; we then return these crates to our source partners. Our rescue partners may ship crates back, have crate campaigns, solicit donated crates from area box stores, or rely on “Krate Karma,” all of which work for our ARO partners.