11th Cross-Country PNP Flight
“Our project that started in March 2016 is still going strong and I get many inquiries between actual transport dates. We have many “repeat customers” – the rescues whose animals we transported on our previous cross country trips.
Cross country #11 took place on November 16-23, 2016. We started in CA with a white GSD pup, Lyssa. This sweet pup was abandoned by her owners when she wasn’t even 5 mo old. Reason? Hip dysplasia. Lyssa ended up on euthanasia list and was rescued – literally – minutes before being taken into euthanasia room. She stayed with a wonderful foster family in CA while waiting for the transport to her rescue in Matawan, NJ.
While Lyssa was on her way, traveling in style from San Diego, CA to Yuma, AZ with pilot Ryan Salahi in a Piper Saratoga, and then from Yuma, AZ to Phoenix, AZ with pilot Brian Schober in his Comanche, from Phoenix, AZ to El Paso, TX with pilot Don Clark, having an overnight blast in El Paso with our regular foster Cheryl Lee and fun ride with the pilot-turned-driver Jorge Briones to Midland, TX to meet her next pilot, Robert Stockton, another sweet pup, 3 mo old Houla, was getting ready to join our transport.
Houla and her brother were picked up on the side of a road by animal control in Houston, TX. They were malnourished, full of parasites, extremely skittish and were growling and snapping. The shelter put the word out; it was extremely urgent to get them out, and PUPS (Prevent Unwanted PetS) stepped up. Houla and her brother ended up in foster care with PUPS volunteer Cassie Cooper who turned them into two rambunctious, happy-go-lucky pups as all pups should be. When forever home was found for Houla, Cassie reached out to Vanessa Johnson, another PNP volunteer, for help to transport her baby to new life. I saw Vanessa’s post on the ride board and told her that if she delivers Houla to OKC by the time our cross country goes through, we’ll have room for her.
Pilot Dan Owens and his wife, who also fostered Houla overnight, arrived to their home base, KPWA, with Houla and met pilot Robert Stockton who delivered Lyssa. At that time we were going earlier than scheduled so the girls had plenty of time for a potty break, photo session and even gave away some puppy kisses!
So two girls continued their trip with Dan Owens and his wife to Joplin, MO where they met pilot Mark Burns, his daughter Finley and Finley’s friend, Jada. Houla even managed to talk Finley into letting her snuggle on her lap while traveling to St. Louis!
In St. Louis they were greeted by our long-term foster Laurel Glench. After a good night rest, they got ready for the trip but in a bigger company – Laurel had two more dogs, Mop and Mattie, to send with us!
Mattie the yorkie and Mop the yorkie mix were rescued from a hoarding situation. After rehabilitation with Laurel, they let their guards down and started trusting humans again. Laurel put them both for adoption and soon Mattie got a new owner! The only problem was that her new home was far away, in NH. Mop was senior and going blind, so he was taken in by a yorkie rescue in NY. Both destinations were far away so Laurel asked me if I could help. The timing was perfect – our cross country was about to start so Mattie and Mop were in too!
That day we had to cut it shorter than we hoped for – the weather in Columbus, OH and farther East wasn’t good for flying so after going from St. Louis to Indy with pilot P.J Jun and from Indy to Columbus with pilot Jason Newbold and his friend Matt, the passengers were grounded in Columbus, OH. Houla was picked up here by her new mom and the rest of the crew was fostered by Houla’s new owner’s daughter, Hillary.
Two days later they continued from Columbus, OH to Newcastle, PA with pilot Bill Johnson, from there to University Park, PA with pilot James Welding and his co-pilot Sandi, and finally to Matawan, NJ with pilot Michael Floriani and his friend… In Matawan they were picked up by Lorraine Healy from Husky House – the rescue that took Lyssa in. They also agreed to take Mattie and Mop for a few days layover.
Two days later pilot Brian Peck picked up Mattie and Mop, and delivered Mop to KFRG where he was picked up by Angela Cano from his new rescue. Then he returned to his base where pilot Charles Brankman was waiting for him and Mattie. Charles was flying the last leg of this, the longest out of our eleven, transports, and this was his first flight with PnP! Mattie’s new mom was thrilled to meet her little girl!
I love getting updates on our previous passengers, and love sharing them with the rest of my team. These last passengers truly got new leases on life thanks to the pilots and fosters who helped them to reach destinations!
Pilots:
Ryan Salahi
Brian Schober
Don Clark
Jorge Briones
Robert Stockton
Dan Owens
Mark Burns
P.J. Jun
Jason Newbold
Bill Johnson – participated in all 11 cross country transports!
James Welding
Michael Floriani
Brian Peck
Charles Brankman
Fosters:
Cheryl Lee
Laurel Glench
Hillary Flory
And HUGE thank you to my co-coordinator Monica Marshall – it’s so much easier to pull together something like this when I have your mighty shoulder to lean on!
Updates on the passengers:
Houla’s new mom’s daughter says: “My parents are really enjoying their new little love. My mom is so excited to have her dog that wants to be around her and check in on her and give necessary Houla snuggles. She is ornery… learning the way of the farm and is vehicle spoiled as she goes everywhere with mom. Adores my kids and plops her head right down on them as soon as she sees them.”
Lorraine from Lyssa’s rescue says: “Lyssa had both hip surgeries done two days apart. She’s recovering nicely. Her new family are previous adopters with one of our Shepherd puppies rescued last year. Thank you for getting her here safely! She’s got her whole life ahead of her… pain-free!”
Angela from Mop’s rescue: “He is settled into his foster home. We will be taking him to the ophthalmologist to check his eyes.”
