Four Vineyard-bound rescue dogs had a three-day, two-night cruise from Bermuda to Port Elizabeth, N.J. last week with their Angels Helping Animals rescuers, Leslie Hurd of East Chop and Lynn Shepherdson of Vineyard Haven. Though there was one day of high seas when on-deck walks were out of the question, the four dogs — a terrier and boxer mix from the Bermuda government shelter — enjoyed daily strolls aboard the Bermuda Container Line cargo ship Oleander. The ship’s regular cargo tends to be cars and building materials.

In the past four years Vineyard-based Angels Helping Animals has brought more than 500 homeless dogs from the U.S. Virgin Islands, Florida, Virginia and Bermuda to the Vineyard and found permanent homes for them across the country. When the dogs are Virgin Islands rescues, American Airlines allows them to fly to the States as companion dogs to travelers who volunteer to have them with them on their flights. But since airlines serving Bermuda insist that animals fly only as cargo, Angels Helping Animals arranged with Bermuda Container Line CEO Richard Todd for the shipboard crossing of the latest group of rescue canines.

Except for their daily strolls, the dogs traveled in crates in the hold while their human companions enjoyed meals with the ship’s captain, Jacek Jurszo of Gizycko, Poland, during the crossing. He told the tale of his 2012 rescue of yachtsmen who had capsized their 40-foot boat in the dangerous Bermuda Triangle waters.

Once the Oleander arrived in New Jersey with its canine passengers, their human companions drove them to Woods Hole in a rental car. They now have received all necessary immunizations and are awaiting adoption off County Road in Oak Bluffs, where Angels Helping Animals has a shelter.

Information about the dogs can be found on the Angels Facebook page or by calling Ms. Hurd at 1-508-274-2604.