PILOTS -N- PAWS
Weekend Pilots Perform Search and Rescue
(02/13/2009) By Gerlind Dubey

Olean based Joyful Rescues; a 501(c) 3 non-profit corporate team of volunteer animal lovers has reached new heights

Wanting a new pet, a potential adopter from Long Island, New York searched the web to find the perfect pooch; www.petfinders.com found a match to suit her wants and needs, however there was a tiny hitch, the perfect match was 600 miles away at Joyful Recues in Olean. As Joyful Rescues will never “ship” a puppy, in cargo on a plane, they ask adopters to be sure they will make the drive to Olean before they submit an application. The adopter was willing to make the drive but wondered if there was another alternative to get the pup to Long Island.

Joye Turock, founder of Joyful Recues mentioned to her that she had seen the tail end of a piece on a news show just after the new year about a group of pilots that were flying pets around the country to get them into new homes and/or shelters in less populated areas. The adopter found the site, posted a request, soon after Pilot Paul Davis from Islip New York responded to the request.  He flew to the Olean airport on Sunday, February 8th from Islip, NY. In the meantime another application arrived from the Bridgeport, CT. area so he ended up flying out with two pups, delivering one to Bridgeport and then flew back to Islip for the other puppy.

It was quite the adventure, hopefully the first of many for both the Joyful Rescues team and for the pilot. Joye stated that she thought that the pilot felt they were a bit nutty, Joyful Rescues had seven people there to hand over two tiny puppies!

 Joyful Rescues would love to find pilots from this area that would be willing to help out now and then and they would love to have more shelters from this area, get involved.  The site ( www.pilotsnpaws.org  ) also asks for volunteers (not just a shelter) that might be willing to house a pet(s) short term if a pilot has to land somewhere unexpectedly. 

When asked by Special-E-Fects to give us a few words on how and why Paul Davis does this wonderful volunteer work, he responded with; “I’ve been fortunate enough to own my own plane and look for ways to combine my love of flying with the chance to do something good. I’ve been an Angel Flight pilot ( www.angelflighteast.org and www.angelflightne.org ) for 10+ years.  In this capacity, I provide transportation to patients who need medical care but can’t afford or cannot take advantage of commercial flights for various reasons.  Most recently, I saw the ad for Pilots-N-Paws and decided to sign up.  This was my first animal mission and it left me with such a positive feeling that I look forward to being able to help out again in the future. My only compensation is knowing that I’ve helped another person (or pooch) in need.”

In just one year Pilots and Paws has saved more than 200 rescue dogs through dedicated pilots who contribute their time, planes plus supplying their own fuel to carry dozens of dogs a month from overcrowded shelters where they face certain euthanasia to rescue groups, safe shelters and adoptive families several states away. The relocation missions are flown by general aviation pilots who have signed on with Pilots N Paws, the website provides regular updates on the need for the volunteer pilots.

The “sweetest” part of this story is that the five puppies from this litter were called the Candy bars. Through the intricate internet dog rescue sites a pregnant Chihuahua arrived from a Montreal SPCA and a couple days after arriving at Joyful Rescues she birthed the pups, consequently they were made in Canada and born in the U.S.  This is a well traveled group; currently 4 of the candy bars are very lucky to be in their forever loving homes. So many individuals have called on adopting the remaining puppy “Whatchamacallit” that Joye is busy processing the applications to find the best match, soon he will be in his forever home. 

Featured are the pictures of the flight to the east coast for Milky Way and Butterfinger. Carmello is in Canada with wonderful new parents, and Peppermint Patty has a great new family near Buffalo.