On Saturday, March 31st, three puppies flew from Fresno, CA to Portland, OR to find their forever homes, but the journey wasn’t without its challenges. Bear, Bailey, and Buddy were 13 weeks old and were embarking on a 550 NM journey involving three pilots flying three legs, with help from Sue Clark, who was instrumental in coordinating the flights. 

Tiffany Shiro made an early morning flight down to Fresno to pick up the puppies and bring them to Rio Vista, where they were met by Mary McEnroe for the second leg of the flight. Mary flew up from San Jose and this was her first PNP flight. She brought along a student pilot, Henrique, to help with the puppies in case they were scared, but all three were excellent passengers and slept the entire way to Redding! 

Mary was scheduled to meet Rob Altomare in Redding around 1:30pm. Rob was coming from Portland and also making his first PNP flight. Upon landing in Redding, Mary learned Rob had engine trouble, but after a 4.5 hour delay, he finally got the plane fixed and made it! Mary hung out at the Redding Jet Center with the puppies where the staff were very accommodating. It was a great place to be “stranded” for several hours and the puppies received a lot of attention. 

When Rob finally arrived in Redding, it was a quick turnaround for him due to the long day. The puppies were loaded up and headed to Portland and ultimately to their new homes thanks to Lancaster Four Dog Rescue. 

Note: photo #1 shows Tiffani in red on the right, her friend in the middle, and Mary on the left in black. 
Photo #2 shows one of the ladies from Redding Jet Center holding Bear while answering the phone. 
In the last photo, Rob is in the middle, Mary is on the left, and student pilot, Henrique, is pictured on the right.  

-Mary Enroe, PNP Pilot