An alternative to ground relay transports.
By Lisa Hicks, Best Friends Network VolunteerWith so many shelters and rescues posting their homeless animals online, more and more people have become interested in fostering and adopting pets who may be located far from their homes. The most common problem is that someone finds an animal they wish to adopt; however, transportation must be arranged to get him to his final destination. Ground trips, especially long ones, can be very stressful and often the animal’s medical conditions do not permit a traditional automobile relay to get him to his new home.
That is where Jon Wehrenberg and his new organization come in. Wehrenberg used his Cessna airplane for business and recreation, but after his retirement, he delivered a dog as a favor to a friend, Deborah (Debi) Boies. As the intake coordinator for
Doberman Assistance Network, Inc., (a national group formed to help facilitate getting Dobermans from shelters, or those in need, into approved rescue groups), she was trying to arrange transportation for one of the dogs in their program.
Boies’ frustration caused by complicated transport coordination, in conjunction with Wehrenberg's love for flying, resulted in an astounding new program,
Pilots-N-Paws. The small group of people associated with Pilots-N-Paws has flown over 60 dogs across country, mostly flown by Wehrenberg himself, uniting dogs with new forever homes. Their goal is to find additional pilots around the nation who will also volunteer to transport animals.
The need for transportation can mean the difference between life and death for many animals. Last year alone, the
Young-Williams Animal Center in Knoxville euthanized more than 12,000 animals due to space limitations. That is just one shelter of many. Every shelter in the Knoxville area is at capacity with unwanted animals including the
Loudon County Animal Shelter, which is maintaining not only Loudon County animals, they are also temporarily housing Blount County animals, while their new shelter is being built.
An owner surrendered animal does not have to be held for any time in the state of Tennessee, so cats and dogs are very often euthanized before they even have a chance at a good life. Organizations like Pilots-N-Paws are certainly doing their part to change this situation.
“Jon's experience with pilots has been that they love to fly and are always looking for a reason to fly,” noted Boies, now co-founder of Pilots-N-Paws. “I feel safe in saying that most people love animals, so combining the two seemed like a logical idea. Our biggest hurdle has been getting the word out to pilots, letting them know we exist. It did not take long for the various rescue organizations to respond to my request, asking them to post a flyer for us in their local airports across the country. It also did not take long for rescues to begin posting requests for assistance on our '
Animals Need a Ride' board. There will always be more animals who require transport than the number of pilots we have. However, the more pilots who are made aware of this program, the more animals [who] will have a second chance.”
HOW TO HELP:This unique idea for flight transportation is in huge demand and additional pilots are needed to help in the transportation requests.
• Anyone interested in helping can visit the
Pilots-N-Paws website, where information on volunteering and submitting requests for transportation can be found.
• Post the
Pilots-N-Paws flyer at local airports to help recruit additional volunteer pilots for the program.
For more information:•
Pilots-N-Paws website•
KnoxNews.com: Pilot shepherds dogs from shelter to rescues for fosteringPhoto courtesy of Pilot-N-Paws