Quarantine?

[ShepherdDad]

I responded to a post (dated 8 Oct) on that day that I could probably do the flight on 18 Oct. Heard back that it was not soon enough and they had lost another litter in a facility (apparently some disease).

I am not an"on demand" service. Add to that the apparent disease risk of dogs taken from facilities, I am questioning my role in this process. What if I had several healthy pups from one group and several others that were sick and contagious from another? Is a vet certificate really proof that they are not contagious? Should the pups be retrieved and placed in quarantine at a foster facility before transport?

[Eric27]

For 12 years I worked as a street EMT and I think I got exposed to most of the deadly diseases. By the grace of God I never contracted anything. Most of the time people would tell you want they had so you protected yourself. When it comes to animals we need to rely on their human care takers. I would hope they would do everything possible to prevent disease transmission and the transportation of diseased animals. We as pilots, out of the goodness of our hearts provide this service because we enjoy flying and preserving the lives of these transports. It would be a shame if one careless act stopped just one pilot from providing this service. Rescuers please don’t put us in a position where we stop doing transports just because we are not sure the animals are in good health. Look at it this way, you have one pilot questioning it now and you have another replying. That’s two. Please we love to do this for you and the animals.

[jlspence]

I've only been doing this for three months but in that time I've come to appreciate how much time, effort and heart these rescuers and volunteers put into trying to save these animals day in and day out. The cruelty, pain and suffering they have witnessed and the stories they have shared would probably make someone like me give up and quit. But they don't quit because they know if they do there will just be that many more animals that don't make it.

I'm saying all this because I don't want other pilots out there getting put off by a rescuer's frustration. They know you're not an "on demand" service and they're not frustrated with you per se - they're frustrated that, despite all their efforts, sometimes it just doesn't come together and some of these animals that they've worked so hard to save end up dead. It hurts and I can understand where they're coming from. Try to see it from their perspective and don't take it personal.