Dogs’ Best Friends

January 19, 2009 — It’s a group of people who love animals as much as aviation. Out of that love, Pilots N Paws was born. The group, based in South Carolina, helps transport dogs from overcrowded shelters to places where they can be cared for in temporary housing or placed in new homes. The group doesn’t actually arrange the flights, but provides a website and a discussion forum where dog rescuers and general aviation pilots who are willing to help can find one another. The pilots donate their time, planes, and fuel. "These are wonderful dogs that simply had the bad luck of winding up in a place where there are too many pets in shelters," Pilots N Paws co-founder Jon Wehrenberg of Knoxville, Tennessee, told USA Today in a December 2008 story. The retired manufacturing executive and weekend general aviation pilot has flown many dogs from high-kill shelters. Pilots N Paws started about a year ago after Wehrenberg offered to fly a Doberman in Florida to a friend and longtime animal rescuer in South Carolina. He began asking questions about the rescue world and learned about the passionate underground railroad of animal lovers who orchestrate days-long road journeys to save some of the 4 million to 6 million animals destined for euthanasia in U.S. shelters annually. "I'd had no idea of the number of animals being euthanized, and the ordeal people and animals were going through in transports," Wehrenberg says. "Pilots love to fly. I believed that if we created a means for them to discover situations where they could fly and also save animals, many would do it." He and his friend joined forces to spread the word. MSNBC reported earlier this month that more than 115 pilots have flown more than 200 dogs to new homes in different states since Pilots N Paws began.		This Yorkie’s ground transport fell through and he desperately needed to get to his new home. A pilot came forward and flew the dog from Florida to Tennessee. Photo credit: Pilots N Paws A pilot volunteered to fly this Doberman flew from Tennessee to Florida. The one-year-old had been found wandering in Memphis and his days at the shelter were numbered until the pilot offered his services. Photo credit: Pilots N Paws the PNP pilots have flown so far. Photo credit: Pilots N Paws

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