KRISTA GAZZOLA isn't a divinity student, but when it comes to saving dogs, she has the zeal of a missionary.

In fact, if you polled animal lovers, sainthood might not be out of the question for the 26-year-old, because this summer, the veterinary medical student from Deerfield has undertaken a mission of mercy that has saved the lives of more than 60 dogs and puppies.

The dog-rescue project is called "Homeward Bound," and in the course of the next week, another 40 to 50 dogs will be heading north, bound for salvation.

They're heading north from Mississippi.

That's where Krista, a 2006 UNH graduate, is about to begin her second year at Mississippi State University's College of Veterinary Medicine in the town of Starkville.

Her career path is evidence of her profound love for animals, and -- her busy academic schedule notwithstanding -- when she discovered how many healthy dogs were being euthanized in animal shelters throughout Mississippi, she felt compelled to take action.

Along with two classmates -- Allison Bliss and Sararose Knox -- Krista sought advice from Dr. Philip Bushby. He's a professor of humane ethics and animal welfare at Mississippi State, and the students went to him to discuss their dilemma.

"The problem is that down in Mississippi, the animal shelters are so over-crowded that they can only keep dogs for a certain amount of time," Krista said. "After that time, when space becomes an issue, they have to put the dogs down.

"After talking to Dr. Bushby -- and knowing that shelters up here don't have a lot of adoptable 10-week-old puppies -- we decided to work with a shelter in Mississippi and try and bring as many dogs up north as we could, then set up an adoption program out of our homes."

They settled on two northern sites. One was at the home of another student, Megan Caulfield of South Salem, N.Y., and the other was at Fortune's Path Farm, which is the Deerfield horse farm of Krista's mom, Petra Gazzola.

"The first trip was a little crazy," Krista smiled. "When we finished the semester in May, we thought we'd be bringing back 10 or 12 dogs, but when we got to the shelter, there were 22 there, puppies and young adults, so we took them all."

Megan took a dozen in her Chevy Blazer and Krista took 10 in her compact Jeep Liberty -- including five German Shepherd-Mastif cross-breeds -- and they headed north.

"Plus I had my own two dogs and two cats," Krista added. "It was a 24-hour drive to Megan's house in New York, and I probably don't have to tell you, but it smelled really bad in my car by the time we got there."

Before Krista could get in her car to complete the trip to New Hampshire, 14 of the rescued dogs had been adopted in New York. Within days, she had placed the remaining eight with families in New Hampshire. One of them, a cuddly chocolate Lab named Millie, is with Krista's dad, David Gazzola, and another -- this should come as no surprise -- is still with Krista.

"Originally, we thought we'd transport the dogs to shelters up here, where they could be adopted," she said, "but we haven't had any left that we had to take to shelters.

"It was mostly word of mouth," she added. "We took pictures of the dogs ahead of time, and we started calling people. I got a list of New Hampshire people from the veterinary hospitals I've worked with up here, then we did an e-mail blast and we placed every one."

Back in Mississippi, Dr. Bushby marveled at the efforts of his students.

"Before a single dog left Mississippi," he said, "we put together a protocol for screening the animals and getting them ready for the trip. We went over vaccinations, the fact that they would be spayed and neutered, and that the dogs would be pulled out of the shelters and placed with foster families for 10 days before the trip.

"The logic behind that is, if they're incubating any diseases, most infectious diseases would show up in 10 days. At the same time, by pulling them out of the shelter for those 10 days, it would minimize their exposure to infection at the shelter, so these are happy, healthy animals."

A second shipment of puppies came in June.

This time -- thanks in part to some funding from Dr. Bushby -- the dogs were transported to Roanoke, Va., where they were met by Krista and Megan.

"This time we had a cargo van," Krista laughed. "We met up with another Mississippi State graduate, Dr. Meg Sutton, and she brought us 38 dogs that time. Twenty-six were adopted within 24 hours. I brought the other 12 back with me, and they've all been placed but one."

That one?

Again -- no surprise -- it's with Krista.

"Her name is Bridget," she said. "She's a young adult, which makes her harder to place, and the dog left over from the first trip is a feist-mix named Jesse. He needs some orthopedic surgery."

That surgery will be conducted at no charge.

Since Krista is working with a number of local veterinarians while she's home for the summer, she was able to persuade her mentor, Dr. Geoffrey Clark from Veterinary Surgery of New England, and Dr. James McKiernan from the Great Bay Animal Hospital to donate their services.

Meanwhile, even though Krista will be heading back to Starkville to resume her studies at the end of the month, yet another rescue mission is in the works.

By Thursday, another shipment of pups will head north from the Columbus-Lowndes Humane Society in Columbus, Miss. The only issue to be decided is how many dogs will make the trip.

"For the moment, we've capped it at 40," Krista said. "Of that total, I expect to have 15 or 20 coming back to New Hampshire with me. The reason I say for the moment' is because if there is demand for more, we can bring more back."

For the record, it costs $100 to adopt a dog through "Homeward Bound." Half of that total goes back to the Columbus-Lowndes Humane Society and the balance helps to off-set the transportation costs for the non-profit program.

If you'd like to know more, you can also e-mail Krista at kgazzola@cvm.msstate.edu.

Staff reporter John Clayton's columns appear in the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. His e-mail address is jclayton@unionleader.com.