We’re so incredibly proud of PNP Pilot Jeff Bennett for flying his 3,000th animal to safety!!! Below we’re sharing pictures Jeff sent us and one of the many stories that aired about this huge milestone. We’re proud of you Jeff!

Florida man flies 3,000th rescue animal to safety

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A black and white French Bulldog named Reggie became a milestone for retired businessman Jeff Bennett.

The squirmy canine became the 3,000th rescue dog Bennett has flown to a better life.

Bennett volunteers with Pilots and Paws. The South Carolina-based charity that enlists small plane pilots to take animals from overcrowded shelters that have high euthanasia rates to foster homes, rescue groups and less-crowded shelters that don’t kill them.

On a windy December day, Bennett flew in his four-seat plane from the Florida Keys to Gainesville, where he dropped off a potbellied pig named Iggy at a swine shelter. Then he went on to the Panhandle, where he collected nearly two dozen dogs, including Reggie, from a shelter in Alabama

The dog was surrendered by his owners and is headed for new owners in South Florida.

Bennett estimates that he’s flown about 1,100 hours in his small, four-seat Cirrus aircraft since starting his volunteer work with the group six years ago.

“Most of the time I do puppies and kittens, but I’ve done snakes, rats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, snakes, tortoises, sea turtles, falcons, pigs and a kinkajou,” he said.

Ruth Douthitt of Second Chance Puppies and Kittens Rescue in West Palm Beach, was waiting to take most of the two dozen dogs and two kittens back to South Florida when Bennett stopped in Tampa on his way back south.

Reggie has people waiting to adopt him, and all of the other animals on Bennett’s flight that day will be taken in by fosters or no-kill shelters.

“The problem is, where we deal a lot with Alabama rescues, they’re such rural areas up there, they have shelters that may hold only 10 animals,” said Douthitt.”

Once the 10-animal limit is reached, officials put a sign on the door saying the shelter can’t take any more.

“We’ve had dogs thrown out of vehicles on the highway, they’re dumped on the side of the road, they’re dumped in the woods, we’ve had some, they just leave them by the side of the river,” Douthitt said. “And the rescue groups up there are really good about saving these dogs and getting them to us.”