First rescue flight as Amelia Air!
Woohoo! We completed our first rescue of 10 (count ’em: TEN!) dogs on Sunday August 25th. We have been working with the Wilson NC humane society, and Kristin helped coordinate pulling 10 animals from their foster homes around Wilson, NC and get them into our plane to fly them up to Lumberton New Jersey to their new homeland. You can see the link to our flight tracking data here, and a video we posted about the whole process on Youtube. If you have questions or comments, feel free to leave them on the Youtube channel comments section below the video.
Some stories of the different animals are here:
Molly and George were found by Cecelia in NC as she was driving – she saw George, a super skinny dog. She knew he was a stray, and when she stopped and followed him – she discovered Molly as well. Both were very hungry and although they wouldn’t take food or treats from her directly (they were quite scared) – they did eat and drink when she left food and water for them. Cecelia and her husband Buddy gave them food and water, won over their trust and when they collected them after 5 days of winning their trust and feeding them, Molly was injured running away from the car. They managed to get her and brother George into the car, got them to the Veterinarian for flea infestation treatment, surgery for Molly to patch her up and shots and hair & skin treatments for their rashes. They were WELL cared for by this wonderful couple, and came to their rescue folks in New Jersey as healthy, friendly and happy dogs, ready for adoption.
Sue is a 14 month old black lab mix with a pretty white star on her belly. She is a seriously happy people dog, who dropped almost immediately when I met her, begging for a tummy rub (which I of course obliged!) She was also found wandering outside, with a bad case of skin infection, but luckily tested negative for Ringworm. Again, her fosters in NC nursed her back to health and provided some much-needed positive attention and love, giving her an outstanding chance to thrive in her adopted home in New Jersey!
Janet, a boxer mix, was incredibly friendly and energetic. She was “jump in your arms friendly” says Katy, our co-rescuer for this flight. A 6 month old puppy, was found abandoned around Wilson NC and taken in by the humane society, fostered by a couple who helped treat her for heart worms and a bad rash on her tummy. Such a sweet dog, she’ll be gobbled up by a new family quickly!
Presley is a 2 year old Bulldog/Boxer mix, who was found with 3 small puppies (one of them – Elvis – shown below). She was in horrible condition when found, have no fur and terrible skin condition, malnourished and basically skin and bones. When found, she wasn’t likely to survive much longer and had already lost one puppy. Luckily, the fosters and Wilson Humane Society nursed her and the pups back to health remarkably well, and they are wonderfully healthy and happy. Presley was quite animated as you can see in the video as well.
Joni and Chachi were a brother and sister found abandoned and absolutely starving. Chachi, the tan 5 month old hound mix, was the brave one feeling somewhat protective of his black & white sister. They weren’t too bad off health-wise, but desperately hungry so their foster home enjoyed giving them homemade chicken and rice to bring them back to a healthy look you see here. Once again we see a pair of lovely dogs that were friendly and happy to have companionship and attention from good people.
Josie shown here is a Pit mix who had been found tied tightly to a tree after most obviously being mis-treated and abused by a man. Most of you know any animal that is aggressive towards anyone in particular likely had bad experiences brought on by that type of person at some point. So while Josie was sensitive to me, a male she’d never met before, she was quite sweet and comfortable around women (and girls). The humane society folks worked with her and found a foster that’s great with sensitive dogs, and Jennifer (pictured) is working with her in Pennsylvania. We’ll be posting follow-up stories and photos as we receive them so you can see more about these beautiful dogs and their new lives.
If you appreciate our mission and want to help, please consider donating to our (tax deductible) organization.
Lastly – we are in the midst of Hurricane Dorian, which has devastated the Bahamas, and is wreaking havoc along the east coast of the United States. These storms will cause all sorts of problems for people, and we wish them well in surviving and recovering from the storms. The animals and pets are often displaced in large numbers as well, and we’d like to be prepared for a flight to help larger groups of animals that need to be rescued quickly. Please help!
For a full video of the rescue flight, including 7 minutes of footage in the beginning about the plane, here’s our Youtube channel preview!
