SASS Rescue and Pilots N Paws teamed up to help bring two needy dogs to the area Thursday evening. From left, Becki Brown, “Bentley,” Mike Green, “Cleo,” and Kelly Hamilton. Brown and Hamilton operate SASS, while Green is an active pilot participating in the Pilots N Paws program

A pair of new additions arrived for the Save A Shelter Shih Tzu (SASS) Rescue organization of Springfield and Urbana Thursday night.

While a couple of dogs going to a rescue isn’t unusual – co-operator Kelly Hamilton said the group takes in out-of-state dogs “all the time” – the method of delivery was.

The dogs, “Cleo” and “Bentley,” arrived on a small aircraft at Grimes Field.

As part of the national organization Pilots N Paws, the pair were transported from Georgia to Kentucky, where they caught a connecting flight to Urbana.

Mike Green, a pilot from Dayton, made the trip from Dayton to Frankfurt, Ky., and on to Urbana for the drop-off at Grimes.

“I try to do (Pilots N Paws) once a month, but lately it’s been once a week,” Green said. “One more excuse to fly.”

Tim McQuillan, another Dayton native, also made the trip.

A pilot from Florida picked the dogs up as part of his trip to Kentucky.

Pilots N Paws is a charitable organization that connects rescues with pilots via the Internet to help find transport for sick or injured canines.

The pilots receive no compensation for the trip, but are allowed to deduct certain “directly-related” expenses from their taxes.

At SASS, the dogs are brought up to date on all shots and medications and implanted with microchips. Sometimes the dogs require surgery.

“Everything we can do to make sure they’re happy and healthy and ready,” Hamilton said.

The animals are fostered in volunteer homes until they can be adopted. SASS has procedures for matching families with dogs. “Not just anyone can adopt just any dog,” Becki Brown said.

Brown is another co-operator of SASS.

“The last thing we want is for them to end up back in the shelter,” she said.

For more information about SASS, to donate or to volunteer, visit its website at www.sassrescue.com.