With your help, Dog Is My CoPilot will transport its 50,000th shelter animal since 2012.
For more than a decade, we’ve been giving dogs and cats a second chance by flying them from overcrowded shelters to communities where loving homes are waiting. On this flight, from Norman Animal Welfare in Oklahoma to our partners at Street Dog Hero in Bend, Oregon, one special passenger will become the 50,000th animal rescued by Dog Is My CoPilot.
County Dog #4
When our Animal Welfare Officers assisted the county sheriff with a cruelty investigation, they found 13 dogs living in heartbreaking conditions. They had no food, no water, and spent their days chained outside. This little guy arrived at Norman Animal Welfare with nothing more than the name “County Dog #4.” At just 12 pounds, it was obvious life hadn’t been kind to him.
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As if his past wasn’t enough, he tested positive for parvovirus shortly after arriving at the shelter. Parvo can be devastating for puppies, but this little guy refused to give up. Thanks to the incredible care of our veterinary team—and his own determination—he beat it.
Today, he’s gaining weight, learning to trust people, and finally getting to experience what it means to simply be a puppy. His story could have ended very differently, but because he was given a chance, his future is now filled with hope instead of hardship.
He may have arrived as County Dog #4, but he’ll leave here with something much more important: a name, a family, and the life every dog deserves.
Frannie
Frannie arrived at Norman Animal Welfare on July 8, 2026, with a devastating wound to the side of her face. Despite efforts to locate an owner, no one came for her. She recovered in the shelter’s veterinary office where she received extensive medical care and daily monitoring. Today her wounds are healing beautifully, and through it all she has remained incredibly affectionate, trusting, and resilient.
Bailey
Bailey came into the shelter on April 15, 2026, as part of a protective custody case with her seven puppies. Her entire focus was keeping them safe until they were old enough to find homes. Now that her puppies have moved on, Bailey is finally getting her chance at a forever family. She’s a staff favorite who loves people and gets along well with other dogs.
Momma Dog
Momma Dog arrived at Norman Animal Welfare on July 2 with seven nursing puppies. Before coming into the shelter she lost her entire right ear, though the cause is unknown. She was found in the country with no food, shelter, or help, yet somehow managed to keep every one of her puppies alive. Despite everything she’s endured, she remains incredibly gentle and trusting of people.
Want to know how they got their names? To celebrate this milestone, people just like you will be submitting their favorite names.
Our founder, Dr. Peter Rork, started flying lessons at age twelve, earned his pilot’s license at sixteen, and completed his first solo flight on May 15, 1969. After a career as an orthopedic surgeon, and decades later, he began transporting a handful of shelter pets in his Cessna 206H Stationair for local rescue organizations.
It was never meant to become this. What started with one or two dogs and cats at a time has grown into a nationwide lifesaving mission. Saving 50,000 animals was never part of the original plan.
As the need grew, Dog Is My CoPilot quickly realized that helping more animals meant flying a bigger airplane. That led to the purchase of a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan nicknamed “The Big Dog” retrofitted from a 12-passenger aircraft into one capable of safely transporting an average of 75 dogs and cats in crates on every mission.
Today, Dog Is My CoPilot operates three rescue aircraft that crisscross the country year-round, supported by a dedicated team of pilots and flight coordinators.
Together, we transport more than 8,000 animals each year from overcrowded shelters to adoption partners across the country. We never charge our shelter and rescue partners for transport, and every flight is filled with animals whose futures depend on reaching communities where families are waiting.
As we prepare to welcome our 50,000th passenger, we are reminded that while this is an incredible milestone, it also represents thousands of people who believe every shelter animal deserves a second chance.
When Dog Is My CoPilot first took flight in 2012, thousands of healthy, adoptable animals were losing their lives. While tremendous progress has been made over the past decade, that challenge has not disappeared.
According to the 2025 Shelter Animals Count national report, nearly 600,000 animals were euthanized in U.S. shelters last year.
That’s why animal transport remains such a vital part of the lifesaving equation. By moving pets from shelters with more animals than adopters to communities where families are waiting to welcome them home, transport gives thousands of dogs and cats the second chance they otherwise might never have.
As Dr. Peter Rork often says, ” Until every healthy, adoptable pet has the opportunity to find a loving home, these flights will continue to matter. There are four things that one can do: adopt, foster, volunteer, and/or donate. For every dog that you save, you save two. The animal that you save and the one that takes its place.”
Until every healthy, adoptable pet has the opportunity to find a loving home, these flights will continue to matter.
This milestone belongs to an incredible community.
Petco Love, The Rachael Ray Foundation, The Lulu’s Fund, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, and many other generous supporters have made these rescue flights possible. Their investment has allowed us to expand into the communities where long-distance ground transport is most difficult and where every flight can save dozens of lives.
We’re especially grateful to Rachael Ray for sharing this milestone with her community and for championing animal welfare for so many years.
To Norman Animal Welfare and Street Dog Hero, thank you for the intake, the veterinary care, the paperwork, the crates, the foster placements, and the countless early mornings and late nights that make this journey possible. We are honored to celebrate this milestone alongside you and the hundreds of shelter and rescue professionals who make every flight possible.
And to every donor who has supported Dog Is My CoPilot over the years: thank you. Every one of those 50,000 seats has been powered by your generosity. Every flight requires fuel, maintenance, veterinary care, equipment, and dedicated staff. Whether you’ve been with us since 2012 or discovered us this week through Rachael Ray, this milestone belongs to you, too.
The 50,000th animal won’t be the last.
Right now, dogs and cats are waiting in shelters for the chance to board a future Dog Is My CoPilot flight and begin a new life.
If you’d like to help write the next chapter, a gift of $188 sponsors one dog or cat on a rescue flight. Whether you choose to give $5, become a monthly donor, make a leadership gift, or simply share our story, you’re helping more animals reach the families waiting to love them.
We’re celebrating 50,000 lives saved, but we’re already looking ahead to the next 50,000.
