At the start of the year, Todd and Rick started our 66th Pilots N Paws Rescue at Moontown (3M5) airport.  Weather was cold and 34 degrees.  Todd had to use pre-heat to warm engine so they could take off.  They took off to Walker county airport to meet Tracy Raburn.  They loaded dachshund mix Oscar, 4 rottie mix puppies, 3 sheppard mix puppies and a Jack Russell Terrier puppy.  After loading the airplane with all passengers, Todd and Rick took off to Bainbridge Ga. Weather was a beautiful clear day for the transport to Banbridge, but Rick never saw the clear skies because he was wearing a view limiting device.  Rick was taking the opportunity to do instrument flight training while transporting puppies (a very efficient use of an airplane!).  A couple of the puppies got airsick but all the rest did fine.  They transferred the pups to Donna Shannon’s aircraft.  She took all the puppies to Sanford Florida to their final destination.

As with all freedom flights, this one was particularly complex and chaotic (organized chaos), but ended very successful without much deviation or delay.  We appreciate how hard Pilots N Paws staff, the volunteers, and the flight crews work facilitating constantly changing dogs, destinations, times, and weather.

Unfortunately many others aren’t as lucky, and as you all know, the only answer to this devastating issue is to spay/neuter/rescue. All of these dogs are really sweet, and they deserve to be curled up on the living room floor at night not tossed out like trash.

Todd and Mary Brooks

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