Eight (8) puppies were successfully transported from the Houston, Texas area to Cedar Rapids, Iowa on January 6, 2018. This passel of puppies, which pilot Mike Farlow dubbed “The Grateful 8”, made the trip in 4 legs of flying.

Life started hard for these cute little fur-babies. The 8 puppies were dumped at a home and picked up by animal control in a small rural shelter after a homeowner called wanting them gone.

About a week before Christmas Terri Woodruff was contacted to find a rescue placement.  Terri reached out to Coordinator Lynn Snyder who networked them to her rescue friends and found a rescue (SAFE HAVEN OF IOWA COUNTY) willing to accept them and place them in fur-ever homes.

So the village stepped up! Terri fostered them until old enough for transport and until they had sufficient inoculations.  They ate and ate and ate and grew to double their size by the time of transport.  By flight time they had grown from 6 pounds each to almost 15 pounds. Lynn coordinated transport through Pilots-N-Paws and four groups of dedicated and passionate pilots;  David and Diane Newton, Michael Farlow, Ron Sipple, and Tom Bragg, stepped up to make the 4 leg 900 statue mile flight to Iowa.

Terri’s wonderful friend Carol Marks transported them to the airport to board the flight early on January 6, 2018. That’s where the Grateful 8 began their journey to a new life.

Pilot Diane Newton remarked that they were definitely puppies, and despite having plenty of room to stretch out in the back of their Saratoga, the Grateful 8 tended to pile on top of each other. She said, “It was a pile, but it was a cute and cuddly pile.”

This transport was accomplished in honor of Dr. Bill Kinsinger; Pilot-N-Paws pilot, advocate and volunteer.

Petmate and Subaru are proud sponsors of Pilots N Paws!