Relive our March Missions!

March Madness was in the air this year! Here at Amelia Air, our bicoastal teams flew 6 total missions, rescuing 47 more dogs and cats to bring our total to the year to 171. From flying 17 puppies to safety in a single Cessna, to our first rescue collaboration with the Labelle Foundation, read on to discover some of our top stories from this month!

11th Heaven!

Petra kicked off March by flying her favorite route from Porterville to Priceless Pets in Chino, California. Originally a 9-dog mission, two more surrendered pups were added to the flight at the Porterville airport - and Petra was thrilled there was plenty of room in the plane! 

Huge thanks to Ashlee & Matt at Priceless Pets for agreeing to take in the last-minute babies, and of course for finding loving forever homes for all 11 dogs!

Draco’s Freedom Flight!

On March 13, new volunteer pilot Sean Ekins, his wife Lara, and their son teamed up for their first Amelia Air mission! Draco, a sweet shepherd mix puppy (who was NOTHING like his devilish namesake) was found as a stray in Porterville, CA.

Indrani with Pound Puppy Rescue in San Carlos, CA generously agreed to take Draco in and find him a loving home! After battling strong headwinds that made the flight a bit longer than usual, the Ekins family and Draco landed safely in San Carlos, where an amazing foster was waiting to introduce Draco to the sweet life. Huge thanks to the Ekins for volunteering their time and aircraft to join our mission, and to the team at Pound Puppy Rescue for making space for sweet Draco!

Rescuing Malinoodles with Labelle Foundation!

On March 15, Laura Labelle - founder of the incredible Labelle Foundation in Los Angeles - reached out to Petra. Two Malinoodle puppies, Gnocchi and Penne, were about to be surrendered to a kill shelter in Paso Robles, CA, unless they could find a way to get to Labelle Foundation in time.

Luckily, our volunteer pilot David was flying home to Los Angeles from a work trip in Salinas, CA at exactly the right time to pick up the Malinoodles! What’s a Malinoodle, you say? A Belgian Malinois and Poodle mix. As we always say, whatever breed or mix your heart desires, you can find your new best friend at a shelter or rescue near you!

After work, David swooped the Malinoodles in Paso Robles and flew home to Whiteman Airport in Los Angeles, where Petra was waiting to help unload the crew. The puppies were incredibly sweet and loving, and David & Petra quickly bonded with them!  Luckily, two dedicated fosters with the Labelle Foundation were waiting to take in Gnocchi and Penne - and in no time flat, Laura and her team had found each one a loving forever home.

17 Dogs in a Cessna!

They said it couldn’t be done!  On March 20th, 2022 Adi and her father Udi departed together from northern California to pick up a total of seventeen dogs in need from our amazing partners down in Porterville, CA. 

Unsure whether all of the dogs will safely fit in their Cessna 182, Adi and Udi were able to configure the crates in the plane with almost no room to spare. 

The Porterville crew included a medium sized sweet pitbull mama with her seven adorable puppies, eight stunning cattle dog mixes puppies, and one small and shy rat-terrier adult female named Gypsy. All pups safely made it to Davis, CA, where the Davis Animal Rescue team coordinated loving foster homes for them.

Girl Power!

Ending the month of March with a bang, Adi flew 7 pups and 3 kitties from Fresno, CA up to Livermore, CA with the help of two young animal lovers (and old-timers kitten-fosters!), Shai and Naomi. 

When the Amelia Air crew landed in Fresno, a nice foster family had a difficult time saying their goodbyes to the 5 Labrador/Chihuahua mixes puppies they’ve been taking care of for a few weeks. 2 separate older puppies and 3 kitties were also added to this rescue flight to find their new homes in the east bay. 

In Livermore, volunteers from Rocket Dog Rescue met Adi, Shai and Naomi and with no wasted time transported the ten rescued animals directly to an adoption event out in the east bay area. The two young ladies got to help save animals in-need, learn a bit about planes and aviation, and enjoyed their first rescue flight in the California skies!