Melanie F.R. Bussell, a College of Veterinary Medicine doctoral student from Clinton, plays with one of the many cute puppies looking for a loving home through The Homeward Bound Project of Mississippi. Founded in 2007 by now-MSU alumni Megan Caulfield, Krista Gazzola and Amy White, the non-profit organization operated mostly by Mississippi State veterinary students takes adoptable puppies and young adult dogs from overcrowded southern shelters and transports them to adoption-guaranteed shelters in high-population metropolitan areas, where the demand for adoptable dogs is greatest.