On Saturday, the 28th of August, Amelia Air's team coordinated the first multi-plane mission and biggest west-coast rescue yet! Dodging the various flaming California fires, three of Amelia Air's pilots jumped on the chance to rescue 22 total pups on this hot Saturday morning.

Our amazing rescue partner located down in Chino Hills, Priceless Pets, opened their arms to 22 dogs in need. A special shoutout to Ashlee, who was so accommodating with our team as we worked together to rescue these dogs from three different overcrowded shelters.

Six of the dogs were flown from Palo Alto airport by Amelia Air's west coast coordinator and pilot, Adi, and her father, Udi. The 300 mile journey from the Bay Area down to Chino was quite smoky, but cruising in 9,500 feet above ground kept all of the pawsengers cool, safe, and happy.

Petra, Amelia Air's co-founder and pilot, was able to skillfully and safely fit eleven (!!) doggos from the central valley's Porterville airport in her plane for this rescue. Petra was originally going to fly only seven dogs from Porterville, but as more dogs needed to be rescued, we were able to tetris around and make room for four more saved lives!

Last (but definitely not least), David, our dedicated volunteer pilot, jumped in to help with this mission at the last minute as more dogs in need were found in the central valley. David flew five pups from the Visalia airport down to Chino airport to join the party, along with his friend Paul who generously joined the flight and offered his awesome photography skills.

The three planes were greeted by Threshold Aviation Group in the Chino airport, where all 22 pups were safely transferred to Priceless Pets' vans and then onto their rescue facilities and foster homes. It was a smoky and sweaty Saturday morning for the Amelia Air team, but this rescue strengthened our west coast partnerships and opened the door for so many more lives to be saved in the future!

Extra special thanks to our West Coast Operations Coordinator and volunteer pilot Adi, who masterminded this mission in between surgeries during her final year of vet school - check out those awesome scrubs!

We're so grateful for all the groups, volunteers, pups, and support that were involved in this successful California rescue, and we cannot wait for the next one! Enjoy the recap video from this 3-plane mission below or on our Instagram, and thanks for following along.

**Update: Thank you to the Chino Champion for the press shoutout about this extra special mission! You can read their story about our rescue here.