SANGAMON COUNTY, Ill. (WAND) - A bus is used to get people from one place to the next, but Charlene Walsh is using this mode of transportation to rescue four-legged companions.

"The name of the bus is True Grit, and I kind of went back and forth on a lot of different names and decided, we (have) got to be rough and tumble," Walsh said. "If you're going to rescue dogs, you (have) got to have true grit."

Rescuing dogs is exactly what Walsh lives for.

"These are God's creatures, and we are stewards of domestic animals and that's our responsibility," Walsh said. "Some of us take it a little heavier than others."

When Walsh saw an opportunity to help further her mission of rescuing animals, she said she took it.

"About a year ago, I saw this bus for sale on market place," Walsh said. "I took a leap, went up and bought it. I wasn't sure how we're going to use it."

As a board member for W.I.L.D Canine Rescue in Sangamon County, Walsh spoke to others within the organization, like one of the founders, Jill Egizii, to find out how the bus could be put to use.

"W.I.L.D Canine Rescue stands for women in love with dogs, and that's what we truly are," Egizii said. "We just decided there was an outlet available to us in central Illinois and beyond that wasn't being served."

Just recently, True Grit set out on its first mission.

"When we have situations like we had the other day, which would've been the hoarding situation, we had 12 dogs. It was a lot of dogs," Egizii said. [The bus] allowed many volunteers and dogs to be in one space."

From natural disaster relief, a mobile adoption vehicle and even a micro-chip clinic, Egizii said the possibilities are now endless for W.I.L.D Canine Rescue.

"Whatever it is we can do with this van, it's like having a building on wheels," Egizii said. "It's fantastic."

According to Walsh, this new vessel will help serve more dogs in need, not just in central Illinois, but across the country.

"All dogs like to ride in a vehicle, and I put the windows in upside down," Walsh said. "We got benches coming. Soon, the dogs will be able to ride with their ears flapping in the wind."