Wondercide sponsored Texas rescue flight

On May 26th, Austin-based Wondercide, the leader in safe and effective, plant-powered pest protection for pets, people, teamed up with  Dog Is May CoPilot to  rescue 45+ dogs from overcrowd shelters in West Texas and flew them to homes in Salt lake City, Utah and  Portland, OR!  Wondercide is also on a mission to protect pets and is excited to participate in the first Texas flight of 2021. This past holiday season Wondercide pledged to donate proceeds from the Wondercide sampler box, and Dog is My CoPilot is pleased to announce the entire flight was  made possible by Wondercide customers and this generous donation!

Lifesaving rescue flight 

The animals leaving El Paso International Airport were rescued by Heather Hall with the Underground Dog organization from several West Texas rural shelters, in addition to about 40 dogs being rescued from El Paso Animal Services. They will be transported to Portland-Troutdale Airport, where they will be greeted by Julie Zagrans from One Tail at a Time PDX and several families ready to foster, and hopefully adopt, their new furry friends.

Sunny makes journey on the Big Dog! 

Sunny and his 40+ friends found them themselves in overcrowded shelters thats when El Paso Animal Services and the Underground Dog stepped in to help get this boy home!  Partnering up with One Tail At a Time PDX he boarded the Big Dog with Pilot Peter and Pilot Riley at 4:30am and arrived with his buddies to Portland just after 1pm and was greeted by his foster family! Some shelters are always full, some are always empty, that where Dog Is My CoPilot provides the missing link getting them there quickly  and efficiently!

The partnership continues

“When I first heard about Dog Is My CoPilot and their innovative approach to saving pets, I immediately knew we needed to connect with this incredible organization and get involved,” said Stephanie Boone, CEO and Founder of Wondercide. “They’re a shining example of what we call Fierce Love®. It’s the ‘never going to give up on you’ kind of love and Dog Is My CoPilot is taking Fierce Love® to new heights.”

The Wondercide partnership with Dog Is My Copilot was such a great success that Wondercide plans to continue donating a percentage of profits from their signature sampler boxes to the nonprofit with promotion during the holiday season to make an even bigger impact. “We love the idea of gifts that give back and will continue to look for ways to give our customers the opportunity to help us do good,” said Boone.

Thanks for the support

“The support we receive from our community of animal lovers amazes me everyday,” said Dr. Peter Rork, President and Chief Pilot for Dog Is My CoPilot. “We are humbled by the generosity of companies like Wondercide who share our mission to help protect as many pets as possible. Thank you to the Wondercide team for being a valued partner and supporting us on our first Texas flight of 2021 so we can accomplish even more life-saving efforts this year.”

Because of the support of our community and sponsors like Wondercide, we have been able to increase the number of flights for 2021 and save even more animals. If you’re interested in joining our flight team, every gift makes a difference and check back here frequently for updates on our flights.

📷 Chris Lammert

Dog Is My CoPilots is grateful for our volunteers that support our mission!  We have seven dedicated volunteer pilots that fly the Big Dog for our rescue missions.  This volunteer pilot team saves our organization over $100,000 a year in pilot fees, which goes directly into rescuing more dogs and cats.

Our Pilots

Including our founder Dr. Peter Rork, we have seven volunteer pilots that will participate in the upcoming rescue season.  Let’s introduce you to our crew so you can see how lucky we are to have these talented pilots. 

Peter “The Pilot” Rork founded Dog Is My CoPilot in 2012 and leads our pilot crew. After working his way through medical school as a pilot, Dr. Rork practiced Orthopedic Surgery for more than thirty years. Instead of retiring to a golf course, he has returned to the skies as our Chief Pilot.

Jeff Carter works as a test pilot and instructor for a Department of Defense aircraft manufacturer. He spends five to six months deployed overseas per year, supporting the US military. While stateside, he lives in Southern California with his wife of 30 years and their 5 rescue dogs. Jeff looks forward to helping DIMC save as many pets’ lives as possible.

Dr. Brent Blue, an Airline Transport Pilot rated aviator has over 9,000 hours of flight time. He also practices medicine in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and consults for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association as a FAA designated Aviation Medical Examiner. Dr. Blue enthusiastically supports DIMC as a pilot and an original board member.

Chris Spanos flies for Frontier Airlines as an Airline Transport Pilot. Chris also volunteers for New Hope Cattle Dogs Rescue and Re-homing of Colorado. He has assisted his wife Paula with this organization, who founded the group. Chris and Paula enjoy caring for their dogs, chickens and especially enjoy camping in the beautiful Colorado Mountains.

Frank Maresca is a semi-retired mechanical engineer. His winters are spent working on equipment and teaching flying lessons, while the summer brings him to the fire patrol for the Forest Service. Frank and his wife Margo have two children, as well as horses, cows, cats and Thor, the security dog.

Tim Riley has actively flown aircraft for the last thirty years. Tim enjoyed sharing his passion for flying with new pilots at his flight school. He also volunteers for a number of different aviation-related organizations. Tim is excited to be part of the DIMC crew and looks forward to flying the rescued animals to new homes.

Jennifer Boman also flies for a major airline on the Airbus 320. The Colorado native lives now in Carlsbad CA, after 17 years in the USAF as an instructor pilot. She and her husband recently lost their 13 ½ year old dog and Jennifer is excited and grateful for the opportunity to fly for Dog Is My CoPilot.

You can check out our pilots’ full profiles on the Team Page and learn about the thousands of hours flown by our pilots before joining the DIMC flight team. 

Pilots go to training

Before a pilot can volunteer for Dog Is My Copilot, they must go through a training program delivered by FlyRight in Charlotte, NC. This organization spends 22 hours with each pilot on the ground and in a simulator to make sure they are completely comfortable with our Cessna Caravan transport plane. The simulator gives the pilots a realistic feel for our plane, down to a near identical instrument panel.  After the training, our Chief Pilot Peter Rork, takes each new volunteer pilot on a 2-3 day training flight. On this flight they learn about the plane, how to handle flying with lots of animals in crates, and their schedule on a typical day. 

Typical day for a pilot

Rescue flight days are typically long days for our volunteer pilots. Before the animals arrive, the pilots day starts around 4am with preflight checks. The animals are loaded in the early morning and the pilots are hopefully wheels up by 6am. Over the next 8-12 hours the pilots transport and unload the animals in various locations before bringing our plane home to Jackson Hole to prepare for our next rescue flight. Every time the plane lands, it gets refueled, inspected, cleaned and prepped by the pilot for the next leg of the journey.  Our partner Rescue organizations supply a crew of volunteers  at every stop to meet the Big Dog and the pilot to unload animals. The animals are given water, removed from crates, and transported to vehicles to make the final leg of their journey to adoption centers. We try to limit the time the Big Dog is on the ground so our partner organization and pilots help to expedite each drop off by working together! We ask our volunteer pilots to donate about 100 hours of flight time per year, which really equates to over 400 hours of volunteered time including all the pre and post flight checks and activities. 

We need your support

Dog Is My CoPilot provides these transport services free of charge to shelters because of the generous support of our community and our volunteer pilots. If you would like to chip in to show your support of our volunteer pilots, please go to our donation page. 

Dog Is My CoPilot focuses on transporting animals from municipal animal shelters to non-profit animal adoption centers.  While we don’t transport animals for the general public, we’re often asked about how to transport animals for vacations or families moving to new geographic regions or someone wanting to adopt a pet that might be in a shelter from a far distance. If you’re looking to transport your personal pet or adopted pet or any other animals, we hope the information below is helpful

Best Friends Animal Society Animal Transportation Information

Thankfully, there are many organizations in the United States that are able help move your pets through the air or on the ground. The Best Friends Animal Society is the nation’s largest sanctuary for homeless animals and their website contains a comprehensive list of pet transport resources.  The list includes volunteer and commercial organizations that can help schedule and transport animals.  We do not work directly with any of the recommended organizations and it’s important to research each organization and make sure that they can care for your pet in a safe and timely way. Don’t be afraid to ask for recommendations or references from other pet owners that have used their services. 

Choosing your transport organization

Transporting animals is often complex and the experience can be stressful for the pets and their owner. As a pet owner, be sure to confirm the pickup and delivery process with the transportation organization, the timeline of the transport and anything that you may need to provide for your animal during the transport. (water, food, crate, etc). You will also want to inform the handlers of any special needs your animal may have during the transport. It’s worth spending the extra time to ensure that you’ve selected a capable organization ready to handle your pet.

Who gets a ride on our flights?

The animals that we fly have often had a tough break and been left at a municipal shelter or born on the streets.  We provide each animal a life saving flight to a nonprofit adoption center in another area of the US where a loving family is waiting to adopt the pet.  Check out our flight below to see where we fly! 

How you can Help

DIMC is a 501c(3) non-profit that provides our services at no cost to the shelters and adoption centers we partner with. We rely on donations to fuel our rescue flights.  If you would like to help us keep flying thousands of animals every year to safety, please join our community at dogcopilot.org.  Thanks for your support and see you in the air!

When the pandemic began in March of 2020, shelters and adoption centers across the country were uncertain how this would impact the animals in their care.  All across the country, shelters are continuing to help pets in creative, innovative ways during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the results have been nothing short of amazing. In fact, many have had such an incredible response from their communities that they have been able to save more lives than ever before! 

Fostering Animals at the Animal Adoption Center

The Animal Adoption Center (AAC) in Jackson Hole, one of Dog Is My CoPilot rescue partners, is one example of how there truly can be a silver lining during very hard times.  The AAC was initially worried about how the pandemic was going to affect their foster program.  But as it turned out their foster program is stronger than ever and thanks to their foster homes support they have been able to save more lives than ever before! Read on to learn how their foster program is truly SAVING LIVES! 

AAC Foster Program helps saves dogs at risk of euthanasia

Following the severe winter storm cycle in the south during February,  2021, our local Jackson Wyoming  based partners, Animal Adoption Center welcomed seven dogs from Laredo, Texas into their rescue and adoption program on February 24! Laredo Animal Care Services is one of our incredible source partners located in Texas that we fly for during the summer and spring.  Thanks to amazing partners like the Animal Adoption Center who coordinated a lifesaving  ground transport up North, animals all over Texas are getting a chance to find a home! 

“It is hard to believe that animals are still facing euthanasia due to lack of space. We are so fortunate to help relieve some of the burden in overwhelmed shelters regionally and nationally,” said Jenna Martin, AAC Advancement Director.

📸 Buckrail @buckrailnews // Nick Sulzer @nick.sulzer

The Pandemic changed everything 

Before the pandemic, staff members at the Animal Adoption Center spent time every afternoon juggling foster homes and animals to find every animal a safe place to rest for the night.  At the time, AAC was open to the public and animals would spend the day at the center, going on walks and meeting potential adopters. Every evening, animals would spend the night with local families that are part of their foster network.

By mid March 2020, it was apparent that the Animal Adoption Center would need to adapt to the changing times. The front doors would be shut to the public except for appointments and the strategy for adopting needed to change as well.  Thankfully, the Jackson foster family community opened their doors and animals were placed in longer term foster care homes while waiting for adoption across Teton County and beyond.  Because so many animals found long term foster homes in the community, the AAC has been able to open their doors to the animals most in need at their regional and national partner shelters.

Whether a dog or cat is working on potty training, overcoming fear or anxiety, recovering from a medical procedure or just waiting for the perfect family to come along, they get to adjust to their new life in a home with caring and dedicated fosters, said Virginia Faulkner-Monks, Community Engagement Director at the Animal Adoption Center.

 

Fostering is good for the soul

Fostering an animal, not only provides a home for an animal, but provides many benefits to the foster family.  Studies have shown that animals are good for your health, help families deal with stress or trauma, and can have an impact on how our country views and deals with homeless animals in our society. A foster home may be an animal’s first taste of what it means to be loved and bridges their experience in a shelter environment with the life of living in a home. 

How you can help

If you are interested in being a foster family and live in Northwest Wyoming, please contact the Animal Adoption Center and fill out an application to be a foster family.  Once complete, you will be added to the foster community call list and AAC will pair foster dogs with you if they believe the animals will thrive and fit into your home.  If you live in other parts of the country or world, please contact your local rescue or shelter to learn about animal fostering programs in your backyard.