Tom Apker shared the following story.  Violet, is a one year old Plott Hound, and is an abuse and Parvovirus survivor.

The rescue founder, Janie, who handed her off to me in Rome, GA was great. If I understood correctly, Janie had Violet for over a month getting Violet back to health. Violet cried for her momma as I loaded her.

The back seat of the bonanza was very warm as we climbed out, just like the old family red Rambler in AZ. Once we got over 5500ft, it was a little better.  Violet did get her leg tied up in the very short lead which connected her harness and the seatbelt. (A lesson learned for future flights: crate ’em if you can. It’s safer for the dog.) But a wee bit of creative work got her unwound, and she spent the rest of the flight laying where she could get head rubs.

When we landed at the destination, John Tune Airport in Nashville, there was a very nice, secure doggie area. With all credit to Nashville, the terminal was redone last year and they moved the doggie area to the other side of building for shade and included a big tree.

There we met up with five other rescue dogs as they arrived. A Carin terrier, beagle mix, collie mix, black lab, briars mix, and a chihuahua named Tinkerbell. All perfectly fine, social dogs. But Violet was clearly the Belle of the Ball.

All these dogs were loaded into a Columbia 350, a plane about the size of the bonanza, but much newer and nicer! Karen and her husband Peter did all the hard work of juggling multiple dogs, various crates, 50lb dogs who were suppose to be 20lbs, the heat, and finally flying the group to Chicago.

From there, a couple pups would stay in the Chicago area, and a couple would go on to Madison Wisconsin. Violet was going to head all the way to her new home in Sioux St. Marie, Michigan this with a third pilot.

All good news for these pups.

Good for me too. I met a total of nine folks who were willing to give up their holiday and work through the heat to give these dogs a new life.

Subaru and Petmate are proud sponsors of Pilots N Paws.