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Rescue a Pet, Build the Connection

Pilots help furry friends while building flight experience.

[Courtesy: Pilots N Paws]
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Pilots N Paws is a prominent nonprofit that mobilizes volunteer general aviation pilots to transport rescued animals, including dogs, cats, and reptiles, from shelters or dangerous situations to foster or adoptive homes across the U.S.
  • The organization operates via an online platform where volunteer pilots and ground crews coordinate transports, covering their own flight expenses, thus providing pilots with a meaningful way to log flight hours.
  • Complementing these efforts, Wings of Rescue (WOR) conducts larger-scale animal and humanitarian aid transports, often using chartered aircraft to move numerous pets from disaster zones or overflowing shelters to new homes.
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There’s a connection between aviators and animals. You have probably been to an FBO that has a resident dog or cat on the premises. These animals often have aviation-related names like Piper or METAR——and are very often rescues from a local shelter. Animal rescue is a cause that many pilots can and do support. If it has fur, fins, or feathers, there is probably a volunteer pilot organization dedicated to its transport.

Pilots N Paws

The group Pilots N Paws is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and one of the most active volunteer animal transport groups in the U.S. The website forms a digital meeting place for volunteers who are “engaged in the valuable services of rescuing, sheltering and adopting animals, and volunteer pilots and plane owners willing to assist with animal transportation.”

Meg Godlewski

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.

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