Last week’s canine air rescue started after at least a week of flight and travel planning which was initiated by Chantal of the Bearded Collies Club of Central Florida (BCCCF) to save a young male Beardie named Misha from a circus of some quite unfortunate events in his life to date. The sad story began in a puppy mill in Canada…..the rest is not enjoyable reading either….so I won’t detail his neglected puppyhood.

The empty ferry leg from Savannah to Ocala was graced by a glorious sunrise off the Florida coast.

A long distance air mission would be the “order for the day” to get Misha to the caring hands of Kathy and her husband in the booming metropolis of Monroeville, Alabama which is 65 miles or so north of Pensacola, Florida. The morning ferry leg started in the dark as usual in my Bonanza to get down to the Ocala airfield around 7am to meet up with Chantal Andrews and load our canine traveler Misha onboard for his rescue flight of 2 & 1/2 hours into a stiff headwind aloft direct to Monroeville.

A "coffee in hand" Chantal greeted the cold morning arrival at dawn.

With the help of Chantal and her friend, we loaded up Misha without event for his first and likely only airplane ride a mile up in the air paralleling the Florida gulf coast enroute to his new foster home.

The morning light blessed the gulf waters with a deep blue hue.

Enroute the crated Misha didn’t make so much as a whimper as he peered out of his crate openings almost in anticipation of his brighter future ahead. The arrival went smoothly into Monroeville “international” airpark as well as the hand off into the back of Kathy’s SUV.

A perfect passenger didn't make a peep.

A 40 knot western tailwind at 7000 feet bolstered my ground speed to nearly 225 miles per hour the whole stretch back to Savannah resulting in a return leg to home plate in an hour and a half! Engine shut down and hangar doors were closed by noon local time to complete the full mornings work, but smiles and smart phone messages between all the involved parties confirmed and rejoiced that we once again by the joint task force of Pilots-N-Paws with BCCCF Rescue that a “mission complete” banner could fly proudly above BCCCF headquarters!!!

Headed home in Kathy's SUV.

God speed to Misha and a “standing ovation” to everyone that has made this rescue possible.

Rick Roth, MD
Savannah, GA