Cold temps, warm hearts.
That's what greeted 70 homeless dogs when they landed Saturday at Willow Run Airport, where a team of animal-loving volunteers stood in the cold rainy weather, eagerly awaiting the weary travelers.
For the love-starved pups that had been rescued from hoarding conditions and overcrowded kennels in Texas and Oklahoma, the 1,000-mile trip in the heated plane was something of a first-class experience.
They were warm. They had food. And they had new families to look forward to.
Crate by crate, the pooches departed the 'Freekibble Flight to Freedom' plane in Belleville, where about a dozen humane society staffers picked up the at-risk animals to prepare them for new lives in loving homes.
The animals were no doubt pooped. Half started out in Texas, where they were rescued three weeks ago from a high-risk shelter. They were flown to Tulsa, Okl., where they were quarantined and medically evaluated with other rescued friends.
Then at 8:30 a.m., Saturday, all 70 were loaded on a plane and flown to Michigan on a one-way trip to salvation.
"It's very rewarding. And it's very humbling when you see all the people on the backend working to help," said Diane Erdman, a manager with the Michigan Humane Society who helped move the pets from the plane to warm cargo vans.
Erdman said Michigan is an animal-adoption friendly state given its aggressive spaying and neutering practices. All of the rescued pets are healthy, she said.
"I anticipate they'll be adopted very quickly," Erdman said of the dogs, which ranged in age from 12 weeks to nine years and came in all breeds and sizes: Chihuahuas, German Shepherds, mutts, Terrier and Pit Bull mixes.
The animals were taken to humane society shelters in Grand Rapids, Holland and Westland.
This life saving, one-way trip was courtesy of several non-profits.
Greatergood.org and Freekibble.com paid for the flight. Rescue Bank provided the crates, for free. And Wings of Rescue flew them here, on a mission to save them from being euthanized.
According to the volunteer groups, in shelters across the country, highly adoptable dogs and cats are euthanized due to shelter overcrowding. There are places, however, that have room to accommodate the pets -- but the trouble is getting them there.
That's where Wings of Rescue comes in.
With the financial help of Freekibble.com and GreaterGood.org, the pet-loving airplane charity saves the homeless pets and flies them to shelters, where they’re immediately adopted.
The rescue package deal even includes a meal.
Halo, Purely for Pets® donates 10,000 nutritious bowls of pet food to help care for the pets.
And doggone it, does this mission work. To date, these animal missionaries have saved over 6,865 dogs and cats.
For pilots Doug Arnold and Jennifer Perez, who flew the animals to Michigan Saturday, the mission is a nice break from delivering car parts.
"It's an honor and a privilege to remove animals from a kill-zone area and know that they'll be with a future family," said Arnold, who lives in Toledo and does this pet missionary work with the help of his employer, Sierra West Airlines. The airline company transports automotive parts during the week, and flies homeless pets to rescue on the weekends.
Several Oklahoma agencies were involved in the effort: Humane Society of Tulsa, Tulsa County Sheriff's office, El Paso Animal Services and the Palm Valley Animal Center. On the receiving end, Humane Society groups from Michigan took over.
"This is my second show," said Catherine Neuhoff, a Humane Society volunteer from Harrison Township who helped on a similar mission last fall when she greeted 124 rescued dogs that had been flown to Lansing.
"I glowed all the way home," Neuhoff recalled of the animal rescue operation. "You use your power for good."
If you are interested in adopting these pets, contact: 866-MHUMANE for the dogs at the Westland shelter; for the dogs in Grand Rapids and Holland, contact (616) 453-8900 or adoptions@hswestmi.or
