A 3,200-kilometre road trip with four beagles in the back is one way to test an SUV.

That is the idea behind Operation Frodo, an annual cross-country convoy that takes beagles from crowded Midwest shelters to breed-specific rescues in Oregon and Washington. In June, Animal Rescue Rigs founder Nik Miles led an all-electric SUV fleet provided by automakers, made up of a Hyundai IONIQ 9, Cadillac Escalade IQ, Lucid Gravity and Kia EV9.

Miles said the effort is meant to help move dogs out of shelters where too many animals are dying or being lost. About 757,000 animals died in shelters or were lost in 2025, according to a Shelter Animals Count analysis.

“We’re trying to alleviate some of that by relocating dogs from one area to another because they’re sought-after breeds,” said Miles, who has moved more than 100 dogs through Operation Frodo.

Most of the dogs at Seattle Beagle Rescue come from other states, board member and foster coordinator Connie Wheeler said. The foster-based group pays roughly $300 per dog to fly rescues to Washington, she said.

“It’s an expensive way to bring dogs,” she said.

Operation Frodo offers a cheaper option, while also giving analysts and journalists a chance to put vehicles through a long drive.

Miles’ first beagle rescue was in 2021, when he drove a Jeep Wagoneer through a deadly snowstorm to get beagles Frodo and Galadriel to Portland, Oregon. He said the mission gave the project its name.

“That first journey was almost like the journey to Mordor,” Miles said. “It was fraught with difficulties along the way, and tragedy.”

This year, 16 shelter dogs were transported. Miles said using EVs made for a quieter ride for the stressed animals.

Sam Abuelsamid, vice president of market research for Telemetry, said going battery-only also cut costs at a time of high petrol prices.

Abuelsamid said money saved on fuel “is money that’s going into the capital fund to raise to get vehicles equipped to give to rescues and shelters around the country so they can transport animals all year round.”

“The real mission of the Animal Rescue Rigs was to try and provide transportation,” Miles said. “So that’s our new goal now: To try and raise enough money to provide some of these rescues with a permanent form of transport, so they can go and scoop up dogs from kill shelters.”

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