Danielle Corsino shared the following story with us:  I first inquired about meeting Berkeley on July 22, 2016. I thought I was crazy responding to a Craigslist add. Out of all places to find a dog, I resorted to the dark and scary world of the nightmares on Craigslist! I searched for “dog adoption” and up popped a Craigslist post. The dog met the breed desire and described temperament Paul and I were looking for to join our family. Curiosity peaked, I sent an email, naturally. At that time, I did not know the dog’s location, however, I thought it was in the Nashua area, to be posted on a NH Craigslist board. I was emailed back immediately by a woman named Toni from Save A Dog A Day Rescue. We set up a phone call and proceeded to chat about Berkeley and his current situation. I learned at that time that Berkeley was in a foster home in South Carolina and was indeed a rescue from a high kill shelter in the foster family’s area. I was intrigued and interested and slightly….already falling in love with Berkeley. Toni was kind enough to reach out to Helen, Berkeley’s foster mom. After a day or so, I spoke with Helen in Rock Hill, SC. Our conversation went great and she completely described everything we were looking for in a dog at that time. Come to find out, Helen is a volunteer at the high kill shelter where she saved Berkeley’s life. One day she was at the shelter and noticed his name on the ‘black list’ for the following day. Helen told me how she went home, thought about him and how he was just such a great dog and deserved a chance for life. Helen decided to go back the following day to the shelter, unannounced, and took Berkeley home to foster. At this time she linked up with rescue organization Save A Dog A Day. Following Helen and my conversation, I immediately contacted Toni at Save A Dog A Day and requested for an at-home visit to be arranged, at the soonest time. I knew from what Helen told me that she could not keep Berkeley very long and that time was of the essence. Although Helen cared for him so much, she was unable to keep him and his destiny would have been back to the shelter or an adoption. Moving forward, we had a great home visit. We have a great big fenced in yard, great home and lots of love to give so the visit went smoothly.

I completed the adoption application and spoke to a coordinator at Save A Dog A Day Rescue in Long Island NY. She promised to have Berkeley transported and described the process for bringing Berkeley up on small planes flown by independent, volunteer pilots. At this point I felt a bit discouraged because I knew that he had a long trip ahead of him and possibly arranging transports for such a long distance would be impossible. I mean seriously, why did my Craigslist dog have to be in South Carolina, more than a 16 hour road trip from me?!?

I was informed by the coordinator that transport was all set and scheduled with 3 volunteer pilots on Saturday 8/5. We were so excited!!! We got everything all set for Berkeley’s home coming so we could welcome him with lots of love and treats. Then we hit a bump in the road. That Saturday eve I received an email that said “Transport is cancelled, call you tomorrow”.   Eventually, the coordinator texted me back and said “working on transport for this Saturday 8/13”. At the end of the week, I received an email stating that weather was not cooperative for the weekend and the transport would be cancelled (again).  “I will try for next Saturday 8/20 and will try again but I can’t find a pilot for one of the legs”, the coordinator told me. That Saturday, I heard from the coordinator that again the transport hadn’t come together. I am emotional, however, I am rational and I realize the feat of the trip and so many factors contribute to the ability to be able to transport a dog of this size and distance. At this time Helen was increasingly feeling the pressure of not being able to keep Berkeley and that it looked like a dead end with me as his adopter. We both felt awful a thousand miles apart and really wanted to save Berkeley in any way possible at this point. Helen went so far as to suggest that we both drive to meet each other half-way in Washington, DC. Plans were being formulated as to how best to do that.

I am not one to sit back and watch a dreadful act unfold. I figured I should find out how much of a need I was actually having a role in. I just simply googled ‘euthanasia rate in South Carolina’. I read for at least 2 hours on how many innocent lives’ of animals are taken short each day. Berkeley was one of 2,400 names on a euthanasia list for his dark day. An estimated 2,400 are put to sleep each day in South Carolina alone. That number is just astronomical to me. I knew I had to just keep it together and continue to hope Helen would not bring our little boy back to the shelter where she found him. I was already so vested in him, and emotional, and loving a dog that I have never met.

They say that once a storm clears, and the clouds part, the sun will come out to welcome you again. I don’t know who ‘They” is exactly, but they are super insightful. I am really not sure how the miracle happened next, but luckily it did.

Berkeley’s transport had been cancelled three times to this point. Feeling hopeless and empty and unable to help this animal, I received a text message from Helen on Friday 8/26 requesting my full contact information to pass along to Robin Manley. Helen or I had no idea or knew who Robin was, but we were glad to speak with her and I had Helen pass along my info. When I asked Helen who Robin was, she just replied “I don’t really know but she’s taking over the transport for the first coordinator”. Minutes later I had an email and a phone call from Robin. Right away, within a minute, I knew Robin was the clearing of the clouds after the storm that we all needed. Robin was a Lead for another rescue organization, Finding Great Homes Dog Rescue https://www.facebook.com/FGHDRGreensboro. Robin informed me that she was putting the finishing touches on a transport with 4 pilots for that following Sunday and sent me the link to the pilot dashboard discussion around Berkeley’s transport. This woman was so on top of things I found it hard to believe that someone was almost as organized and controlled as I am in a time sensitive crisis. I followed her instructions in her very detailed email and logged onto the discussion board. This is when I first really learned who the ‘pilots’ were… they were volunteer, independent pilots who volunteer their time and planes to transport animals facing euthanasia. I felt like I was a player in the Underground Railroad for saving dogs at this point.

The organization is called Pilots N Paws www.Facebook.com/pilotsnpawsfanpage .  As I read through the posts surrounding Berkeley’s hopeful trip, I noticed additional pilot conversation boards surrounding previous Berkeley trips. There was an able, ready, and willing flying force of pilots, Robin, a determined foster family, and an adopter in place pulling the reins to get Berkeley to New Hampshire! I will say right now, I was just leaving my schedule open to accommodate this great effort…everyone else really were the arrangers. Within two hours we had a confirmed flight plan with four legs of pilots! Amazing. Amazing. Before Berkeley could set off for his new home in New Hampshire a lot had to be done. His foster mom Helen organized to get him his certificate to fly and all his paper work in order. She and her husband also searched for a crate that would accommodate Berkeley’s 45lb frame and fit in the first pilot’s plane. There were some snags in that step of finding a crate, however, they all worked endlessly during Friday evening and Saturday to make something work.

All engines were a go at this point! Berkeley was fully ready to depart South Carolina at dawn on Sunday, 8/28. Paul’s children (Mikayla, 10 and Mason, 8) made cards for the pilots who were volunteering their time, they each picked out a chew toy for their new friend and we all anxiously awaited and prayed for nice flying weather.

The plan Robin facilitated in arranging was for Helen to bring Berkeley to the local airport in South Carolina at dawn Sunday. From there, Berkeley would be loaded into his first puddle jumper plane with Pilot Scott Baldus. Pilot Scott would then fly to Roanoke, VA to meet Pilot Joe Campbell. Berkley would move from Scott’s plane into Joe’s. From there, Pilot Joe was scheduled to fly to York, PA to then meet Pilot Pete MacKay. Pilot Pete would fly to Danielson, CT to meet Pilot & Doctor Mark Mattie and the great Doctor would bring him home to Nashua. That was the confirmed plan and it all sounded wonderful to me. I can’t speak for Berkeley but I think he was super excited to find out who we were and to meet Paul and me. A car ride to the airport, 4 pilots, four times taking off and landing in an airplane, and one more car ride and this little 45lb guy would be home. That was the plan.”
Sunday was finally here! I was up at 5am waiting for the confirmation Berkeley was locked and loaded in the plane with Pilot Scott. Brrrrmmmm…. My cell phone chimes and it is confirmed. Berkeley was happily loaded.

Pilot Scott ascended and quickly had to land back on the ground. Unfortunately there was a snag, the fog. Pilot Scott waited patiently at the Rock Hill, SC airport monitoring the foggy overcast that depended on the flight that morning. By this point, Berkley’s foster family went to Church but still was monitoring Berkley’s progress from her cell phone during the service. When Helen discovered that Berkley’s flight was delayed, she and her family returned to the airport to wait with Berkley and Pilot Scott. Almost an entire 4 hours passed on monitoring the weather. I was personally loosing hope and Paul prepared his children that Berkeley may not arrive. Robin and the pilots were all communicating and working on options endlessly during this time to reroute and rearrange the flight plan. I mean, seriously, these folks worked tirelessly.

At 11:20 am, a turn happened. It was concluded that if a move was not made soon then Berkeley was not getting out of SC. Without a moment’s hesitation, Helen and her husband packed back up Berkeley into their car in Rock Hill, SC and headed straight for the airport…in Martinsville, Virginia to meet Pilot Joe! They just said nope, he is going, let’s drive almost 3 hours north! They went through 3 states to assist in getting Berkeley to safety and drove 250 miles one way.

Again, frantically searching for options, the team plugged through message after message. At this point, the dark would come to the day and the airports would close leaving the pilots nowhere to land and nowhere to send Berkeley. If the plan went as it was planned for Pilot Joe to meet Pete and Pete to meet the doctor, Berkeley would have not made it into Nashua Regional Airport before midnight, five hours after the airport closed. A new plan was developing and in the air. Pilot Dr. Mark was assisting from the ground level in rearranging all flights around Berkeley because he was the guy on the ground who could focus on the maps and airport locations the easiest at this point. At 2:30pm, Sunday, Berkeley and his foster parents arrived in Virginia. They again waited for an hour for Pilot Joe to land as he was having radio problems and was late leaving his airport in Roanoke. Joe made it to Martinsville, VA safely and finally, Helen and John bid farewell to their summer houseguest. Joe set off for another airport in Winchester, Virginia to meet Pilot Pete.

Meanwhile, Pilot Pete who is based in Connecticut, was oblivious to the happenings in Rock Hill, SC. He was busy flying from Connecticut to York, PA which was the original rendezvous meeting point to collect Berkley. Pete landed in York, PA to only receive a phone call with the news of the day’s events. With the confusion and transport changes caused by the fog, a huge part of the day was lost. Timing was just not on our side at this point for getting Berkeley home before the lights went off for my local runway. Upon hearing the news and without hesitation, Pilot Joe and Pilot Pete both agree to fly even further to meet in Winchester, VA vs York, PA. Pilot Mark realizes that given the late arrival times, that the Nashua airport will be closed by the time Pete makes it back to CT, making it impossible to hand Berkley to me. Pete immediately steps up and say’s “No Problem, I will take this dog to Worcester, MA by 9:30pm to drop off with his adopters. That airport closes at 10 pm. BOOM! Crisis averted. Everyone was ecstatic: Robin, the 4 pilots, Helen and us. Let’s just recap here for Pilot Pete’s new schedule: Pete wakes up at his home in Danielson, CT and flies to York, PA, realizes we lost the 1st leg pilot and agrees to compensate with Pilot Joe. Takes off from York, PA and flies to Winchester, VA, then picks up my dog and flies all the way to Worchester, MA to hand me the dog and then fly home to Danielson, CT. We were calling him the Milkman. So there ya’ go, the last leg of Berkeley’s trip was confirmed. Pilot Joe experienced a radio issue while in the air, just to add to this story. However, he landed safe and switched off Berkeley to Pilot Pete. Even though Doctor Mark’s flight was cancelled, he stayed on the computer the entire day, monitoring the weather, suggesting appropriate new airports to land at and calmed everyone’s fraying nerves. Mark stayed up late to make sure that Pete was ok to fly home and if the weather should have taken a turn for the worse, Mark was prepared to go and fly to wherever Pete was to not leave him stranded. Lucky the weather was on our side.

Pilot Pete left Virginia at about 6:30pm and Paul and I set off to Worcester Regional Airport in Central Massachusetts. We were ready to meet our new best friend, and soon to be the biggest Patriots and Red Sox fan eveeeerrrrr. I would like to say at this time of the night, after a full day of tracking and waiting and hoping for Berkeley’s trip to go smooth, I only cried three times. I felt overwhelming gratitude for Robin, Pilots Pete, Scott, Joe and Dr. Mark…people whom I had never met before and for a dog that I was in reality, quite worried about.

I have no words to describe what happened next. The pictures are real and we are not staged characters. A four hour airport delay, three hour car ride, a couple airplane rides later….

Berkeley came barreling through the doors of the Rectix Center in Worcester, MA and he was literally pulling Pilot Pete through the door at 9:30 pm Sunday, August 28. We welcomed him with open arms to the rest of his great and fantastic dog-gone life with us.

I think Berkeley knew he was home the second the door opened. I think he knew that the storm was over and the clouds above him had cleared…

And he saw us waiting.

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