On Monday, friends Katie Day and Jessica Sanger waved at each other through their respective windshields.

Day was returning to Sioux Falls after a 1,300-mile trip transporting 15 dogs rescued from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to Minneapolis. Sanger was just starting a 700-mile trip from her Pukwana home to the Twin Cities with a dozen dogs in her vehicle.

The highway is familiar to both of them. For months they have taken turns driving neglected dogs to rescue groups in the Minneapolis area, making the trips two weeks apart. In fact, Day spent three of February's four weekends transporting dogs.

Their compassionate efforts have taken on new urgency since the Nov. 18th death of 8-year-old Jayla Rodriguez, who was mauled by a pack of dogs while sledding near a Pine Ridge housing complex.

Since then, tribal officials have rounded up and killed some of the stray dogs that roam tribal lands, sometimes with owners who permit them to run free, others stray dogs who never have been domesticated. At the same time, the tribal officials have helped rescue groups including LightShine Canine save younger, tamer dogs.