On October 6, 2012, we started our 21st Pilots N Paws Rescue at (3M5) Moontown Airport in Huntsville, AL, our home base. Weather was very cloudy, and we could not see the mountain very well. Todd had to get a clearance on the ground so we could take off to the north to avoid hitting a mountain. Scary for me! We headed to Albertville, AL to pick up 3 dogs. One was a Scotty and the other a lab mix. Very hyper dogs but happy to be rescued. Loaded the dogs in the rain then took off to Walker County airport in Jasper,AL. Rained the whole way; bumpy and saw lightening.

In Jasper we picked up 12 puppies total. We had 3 sheppard mix puppies, 6 toy mix puppies and 3 terrier mix puppies. Oh how cute were these little guys. We loaded all puppies in the rain and still kept the other 2 dogs on board for our next leg of flight. Now we were off to Greenville, AL to meet up with Ed Golly. We unloaded our Scotty and the lab mix, which went with Ed to fly to Florida to their forever home. While in Greenville we picked up a Doxie and Chi/pug mix. All of our puppies stayed on board for the next trip. Once all passengers were loaded, we took off and headed to Quincy airport which is in Tallahassee, FL. Once all passengers were unloaded and handed off to Gary Keilty for his flight to Tampa, the dogs final destination, we headed back home to Huntsville. This was a long day and the weather was not good most of the trip, but we were able to rescue 18 dogs/puppies so the bad weather was worth it.

It is always very emotional for these rescuers to let the dogs go, but they know the animals are headed for a better life. All rescues are complex rescues, but they end up very successful. Another part of a successful rescue is finding someone to take care of our 4 dogs. Thanks to Adam Wallace, who took care of our dogs so we could do this rescue.

We appreciate how hard the volunteers work facilitating constantly changing dogs, destinations, times, pilots, 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.

Cessna N2858F
Todd & Mary Brooks