MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. -- The Pets Alive Magic Bus is about to begin its travels throughout the Tri-State area to help promote shelter pet adoption and to kick off the first season of the Magic Bus, a ribbon cutting ceremony took place on Saturday in Middletown.

The Magic Bus is a retired 20 passenger Hoboken fleet bus which was refurbished to transport volunteers and animals to off-site adoption events and pet expos.

The bus will also be used to transport animals during rescue efforts.

"The Pets Alive Magic Bus will allow us to put out message out there as we're traveling across the tri-state area. When we're using the magic bus for rescue efforts, because it is a larger bus we can get many, many animal crates in there. It also has a wheelchair lift which will allow us to put larger size animals in their transport crates and lift them up safely,” said Marcy Rydd, Community Relations for Pets Alive.

Each year Pets Alive rescues over 2,000 animals.