Blog Archives - Page 6 of 9 - Dog Is My CoPilot

CBS Sunday Morning Feature

August 28, 2020

Recently, Dog Is My CoPilot and our founder Peter “The Pilot” Rork, were featured in a story for CBS Sunday Morning. The outpouring of support for our organization has been overwhelming, and a reminder about the value of our important work.

The Beginning

About 14 month ago, Conor Knighton, a reporter for CBS Sunday morning, reached out to Dog Is My CoPilot to learn more about our life saving flights. The Sunday Morning show was considering an animal themed show and wanted to include a story from our life saving flights. The reach of a nationally televised show and the possible exposure was exciting, and we were optimistic, but also knew it was probably a longshot.

Laying the Groundwork

Over the course of the next year, we were in continual contact with Conor and routinely shared updates on flights and inspiring stories about animals we helped save. Once COVID hit and our logistics became more challenging, the story became more interesting and the pieces started falling together. CBS would have loved to be on a flight with our dogs, but because of all the COVID restrictions we had to adapt.

CBS Sunday Morning story link

Welcome

We found out on Friday August 21st that the decision was made to air our story on Sunday August 23rd. We’re used to working quickly and with short notice, but this was a BIG surprise! We were excited, but couldn’t imagine the amount of loving support we received from animal lovers across the country. Thank you to the thousands of people that have joined our community. ❤️ Welcome, please follow along on our Facebook Page, and stay tuned for updates from our busy flight schedule this summer.

We are excited for the future of Dog Is My CoPilot and many thanks to Conor Knighton and all the folks at CBS Sunday Morning who made this story possible.

Old Bill’s Fun Run and Dog Is My CoPilot

August 10, 2020

For the past 24 years, The Old Bill’s Fun Run has been an integral fundraising partner for many nonprofits in Jackson Hole. Dog Is My CoPilot is no exception. We have relied on the generous donations from our amazing community of supporters to power our life saving rescue flights.

A little more about Old Bill’s in 2020

Twenty-four years ago, an anonymous, philanthropic couple, fondly known as Mr. and Mrs. Old Bill, envisioned a collaborative event to support local nonprofits. Fast forward to today, and the Old Bill’s Giving season runs from August 1st till race day on September 12th. Although there will not be your typical race at the end of the fundraising campaign, people are running dispersed and socially distant races across Jackson Hole. Donations to the Community Foundation are being accepted during this time and there are many ways to get involved and/or give. More information can be found here: https://www.cfjacksonhole.org/old-bills/

Our Proud Partners in Jackson Hole

The Animal Adoption Center (AAC) and Paws of JH are two other Jackson based animal welfare organizations involved with Old Bill’s Fun Run. Both of these organizations are partners with Dog is My CoPilot and have helped us find loving homes for abandoned and at risk pets this year. The AAC has accepted animals from 3-4 flights a month this year to save dogs and cats from places like El Paso Texas, Dallas, Texas, Lardeo, Texas and Los Angeles, CA.

Our dogs getting a Furever home

There are so many great stories of the dogs and cats that have been rescued and have found new homes in our community. One dog, Jack, has made a big impact on our staff and is finally in his furever home. Jack came from the streets of El Paso and was part of a rescue flight with our partners El Paso Animal Services back in May. When he arrived in Jackson, Paws of JH fostered Jack at the Living Center nursing home where he gave comfort to the many seniors. He was finally adopted in June and has been camping all summer with his new family!

Show your support

Dog Is My CoPilot is proud to be a participant in the Old Bill’s Fun Run with the Animal Adoption Center and Paws of JH. Please show your support for the many nonprofits that are participating in this year’s Old Bill’s and even though we can’t be together like normal, we can still support all of the great organizations across greater Jackson Hole. Please visit the Old Bill’s information page on our website to learn more or make a life saving gift today!

A New Focus on Animal Services

August 7, 2020

Dog Is My CoPilot has been on the leading edge of animal rescue organizations since its inception in 2012. Our model of flying dogs and cats from overcrowded shelters to no-kill adoption centers has saved thousands of animals and helped them continue their journey home. Our experience led our executive director, Kara Pollard, to be involved in a new working group, within the Humane Animal Support Services called Pet Supply & Demand.

What is the Humane Animal Support Services (HASS)

Humane Animal Support Services (HASS) is a partnership of 30 animal focused organizations, many of which are already shelter partners with Dog Is My CoPilot. The goal of HASS is to shift the focus of animal services towards keeping owned pets together with their families and expedite the path for animals out of shelters. HASS is a community collaboration led by American Pets Alive! and powered by incredible partners, including Maddie’s Fund, South Fork Foundation, Michelson Found Animals Foundation, Pedigree Foundation, Petfinder, and Brandywine SPCA.

Pet Supply and Demand

One working group created by HASS, Pet Supply & Demand, is studying ways to determine how to quantify supply and demand of shelter animals in America, creating a more efficient flow from city to city. The team is trying to develop a way to overcome obstacles that exist in the movement of pets by collecting research and data that can help quantify what cities have excess animals (potential euthanasia) and which communities need pets to fill demand from families looking to adopt a new animals. They will then create a framework for shelters to connect and more effectively communicate around the transport of animals and their care. Finally, with all this information and data, the working group will help solve any obstacles in transportation from both the receiving and contributing shelters.

Stronger Partnerships: Stronger support

We are ecstatic that our executive director, Kara Pollard will be a part of this international working group helping to shape how the world of animal sheltering advances. Animal rescue and sheltering has completely changed over the past few months, with community based fostering becoming the norm. It’s a big shift, and not without its growing pains, but it’s one that the animal services industry has been hoping would happen over the past few years. Dog Is My CoPilot will be able to lean on these new partnerships to rescue more dogs across the southwest and we’ll share our learning to help other organizations in different geographic locations.

Building partners and saving more lives together

August 3, 2020

Building partners → growing flights

Many municpal shelters across the country are overcrowded with amazing adoptable animals. When we visit our partner shelters, we can see first hand, large and medium sized dogs are typically the most overlooked and the hardest animals to adopt, which results in these animals being in shelters for a very long time. We fly out of Los Angeles, where hundreds of dogs are waiting in shelters often times for months at a time while they wait for an outlet or adopter.

Our New Partner in L.A.

Paws for Life K9 Rescue is a non-profit in L.A. that’s connected with Dog Is My CoPilot to help coordinate rescue flights out of Los Angeles. Paws For Life K9 Rescue pulls its dogs from L.A shelters. Often, they choose dogs in need of socialization and training which they place with their incarcerated trainers throughout California State Prisons. They do this because they can dedicate all of their time to their rehabilitation. Despite facing lengthy sentences behind bars, the trainers have forged a new model for rehabilitation and have taken their learnings into their lives after prison. Paws for Life goes above and beyond by evaluating the dogs and even organizing play group assessments. The organization helps to take videos and pictures of the potential dogs for transport and send this information to the receiving organization so they know more about each animal before it arrives and is looking for a home. This extra step is key for receiving partners, which helps provide even more information on large breed dogs that will lead to a more successful placement and ultimately a home!

A Dog that Tells the Story

Meet Stegosaurus. He’s a six year old blind pitbull and is an example of the many medium to large dogs that can be a challenge to adopt. When there are so many dogs to choose from in large shelters in L.A, dogs with special needs like Stegosaurus are hard to find homes. It takes partners that are willing and able to collaborate on these challenging cases to find new families willing to adopt these loving animals. We recently flew Stegosaurus to One Tail at a TIme – Portland where he is waiting to find his family.

If you’re considering adopting an animal, please visit our partners page to see the organizations we partner with and learn more about pets available for adoption!

The start of a Long Term Partnership

Dog Is My CoPilot is excited to have so many great partnerships in the greater Los Angeles area. A selection of our new partners include: L.A. Animal Services, a city run organization that maintains 6 shelters across L.A and is one of that largest municipal shelters in the US; Angel City Pit Bull, a foster-based only program that was founded to address the problem of overpopulation and high euthanasia rate of pit bull terrier type dogs in Los Angeles shelters; Best Friends Animal Society – Los Angeles, who did all the health checks for the animals on our last transport, and have been running the nation’s largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals.

Let’s Not Forget the Kittens

Along with Stegosaurus and 18 other dogs, we transported 102 kittens from L.A. to Portland Oregon on our last flight. We’re in the middle of kitten season and they’re overflowing in shelters across L.A. Managing cat populations in large cities is a real challenge. We are proud supporters of programs like the Spay Neuter Project of L.A., the largest nonprofit spay and neuter animal welfare organization in California. This organization is trying to maintain the population as well as get kittens into loving homes in other places in the country. Another amazing kitten partners included, Perry’s Place Heaven on Earth and Kitty Bungalow!

Collaboration is Key

Working together saves lives and thanks to the amazing partnerships above, 102 kittens and 19 dogs will be continuing their journey home this week! We’ve covered hundreds of miles to deliver this plane load to Portland, Oregon, Boise, Idaho and Coeur d’Alene, ID and we could not make these flights possible without organizations like Paws for Life K9 Rescue. We look forward to growing this and other partnerships in the flights, and years to come.

Two Cane Corsos, far away from home

July 29, 2020

Typically when Dog Is My CoPilot runs a flight of rescue animals, these dogs and cats are homeless. We are flying animals that have been abandoned or found on the street and we are delivering every animal to adoption centers, where they’ll find loving homes across the northwest. The average dog we save is 20-70lbs and we fly a variety of breeds. Recently, we had a unique flight when two massive Cane Corso needed a lift!

Escaped and Taken

The two Cane Corsos, Ira and Ty were in their yard in Odessa, Texas with a locked gate and tall fencing. It is unclear how they got out of the yard, but they were found by a family visiting from Utah. Instead of turning them into the local Animal Control, they decided to take the 2 dogs home with them to Vernal, Utah. The female, Ira, did not get along with the family’s other small dogs, so they turned Ira and Ty into their local shelter. This shelter has a euthanizing program due to overcrowding and these large dogs are often hard to adopt. The shelter did discover that the dogs were chipped and the owners were notified, so Ira and Ty were safe for now.

Logistics to get Ira and Ty home

Although the family was elated that Ira and Ty were ok, they were not in a position to come and get the dogs which were now a long drive away from their home. The logistics of transporting 2 very large dogs, staying in hotels, and traveling with their two young children, seemed like an impossible task. The dogs were becoming at-risk of being euthanized before a group of local animal rescue partners came to save the day. The partners tried to coordinate ground transport for the dogs, but because they were over 1000 miles away, this seemed to be impractical. Before long, Nancy O’Conner at Paws for Life contacted Dog Is My CoPilot to see if we could help.

Big Dog comes in for the Rescue

In order for a rescued animal to be transported on Dog Is My CoPilot’s airplane, Big Dog, each and every animal must be cleared for flight. Our preflight checklist includes vaccinations and health certificates for every pet. The staff at the Uintah Shelter in Vernal, Utah sprang into action to get the logistics arranged and even drove the dogs to the vet in their personal cars. The staff volunteered to bring the Cane Corso’s to the airport early in the morning to have everything ready for our predawn flight. The Big Dog made a couple extra stops to transport Ira and Ty on its way to Laredo, Texas to pick up another round of rescue animals.

Going the extra mile

Normally we do not get the opportunity to bring dogs back to their original owners. But why not help a family that wants their dogs back? Getting these two large dogs out of the shelter, that already have a home, creates space for 2 more animals in desperate need of a loving furever home. In the long run, by getting these Cane Corsos home, we are able to help more animals that are not as fortunate.

More to come

Earlier this year, we shared with you that we’ve saved over 14,000 animals and we’re on track to reach 15,000 lives saved. Stay tuned, we’ll be sharing the incredible story of lucky dog number 15,000 soon.

15,000 Animals Rescued

July 22, 2020

This week, we rescued our 15,000th animal and are celebrating with a $15,000 matching campaign. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact people and pets across our country, the need to transport animals from shelters to loving homes only grows. With your help, we can continue this life saving work and keep the Big Dog in the air.

A Matching Celebration

A few generous supporters have provided an amazing $15,000 match to celebrate saving the lives of 15,000 animals. Every dollar raised will be matched by these donors with the opportunity for us to raise $30,000! Will you join us today and help us complete this incredible campaign?

We have rescued our 15,000th animal 🐶 and need your help to complete a $15,000 matching campaign to celebrate the…

Posted by Dog Is My CoPilot, Inc. on Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Lucky #15,000

S’more was part of a well loved group of 17 animals in El Paso Texas. Her owner passed away this spring and the family was overwhelmed by the care needed to support the pets and called on El Paso Animal Services for help. But as you can imagine, the shelter did not have space for this influx of animals.

El Paso Animal Services contacted us and we arranged a rescue flight! We have doubled our trips to Texas this year with the help of the Petco Foundation and 3 new volunteer pilots. S’more and the rest of the 100+ animal passengers on that transport flight are now safely with one of our partners, One Tail at a Time-Portland, Oregon and waiting to be adopted into their furever home.

The Big Dog is Getting a Workout

We are fortunate and grateful that we now have 4 pilots that are donating their time to fly our rescue airplane, The Big Dog. Many of our flights have been 2,000 mile round trip adventures to Texas where the need is growing to save animals. With all of this flying, we need your help to keep the gas tank full. If you give today, your gift will be doubled and counted towards our matching campaign celebrating 15,000 lives saved.

More Pilots More Animal Lives Saved

July 2, 2020

Every year, as we work closely with shelters, our team meets loving animals that need to be flown to their furever homes. With more demand for our lifesaving flights, we need more pilots. Don’t worry, Peter is not going anywhere, just getting a little assistance from three animal lovers. This year, we’re planning more flights than ever before and none of this would be possible without the support of our new team members.

Meet the New Pilots!

Captain Blue

Dr. Brent Blue is an original board member of DIMC and is an enthusiastic supporter of rescue animals. Captain Blue is an Airline Transport Pilot rated aviator with over 9,000 hours of flight time. He practices medicine in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and has three adult children. His whole family has grown up with dogs of all types and has already flown his first flight. He is a FAA designated Aviation Medical Examiner and consults for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. In addition to his extensive aviation experience, Captain Blue is an avid skier, mountain biker, traveler, and photographer. He recently expressed his excitement when asked about flying for DIMC by stating, “dogs are incredible animals and bring such great joy to people. How can we not rescue as many as possible?”

Captain Carter

Jeff Carter works as a Test pilot and instructor for a DOD aircraft manufacturer. He spends five to six months deployed overseas per year, supporting US military programs. 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 while he’s in California.

Captain Colton

Craig Colton loves dogs plain and simple. After a career in aviation as a commercial pilot flying all over the world, he is honored to be in a position with DIMC to help transport dogs and cats to their furever home. He has personally adopted many wonderful rescue dogs over the years and is now excited to be on the other side helping dogs and cats find loving homes. After monitoring his first couple of flights, Captain Colton appears to have a goal of breaking the sound barrier in our Cessna Caravan. We’re not sure if the Big Dog is up to the challenge 🐶

Last but not least: Captain Rork

Peter, “The Pilot”, is an East Coast refugee, who always believed that he was switched at birth with a kid from New Jersey. After working his way through medical school as a pilot, he practiced Orthopaedic Surgery for more than thirty years. Instead of retiring to a golf course, he has returned to the skies as our Chief Pilot. Peter holds an Airline Transport Pilot rating and is qualified to fly single and multi engine aircraft as well as seaplanes. He is also a certified flight instructor. Transporting animals to furever homes in a Cessna Turbo 206 Stationair and Cessna Grand Caravan, he says that the view from his new office beats any other.

How does this work get done?

These three new volunteer pilots and Peter have already donated hundreds of hours flying rescued animals all over the west coast for DIMC. This important work would not be possible without the generous support of the Petco Foundation. Dog Is My CoPilot received a $250K lifesaving grant from the Petco Foundation that allowed us to train our new pilots and increase the number of lives we save each year. Having rescued over 14,000 animals, which is part of the more than 6 million pets that the Petco Foundation has helped rescue, we feel fortunate to be their partner.

14,000 Rescued Animals and Counting

June 12, 2020

It is hard to believe that in 8 short years, Dog Is My CoPilot has saved the lives of 14,000 animals. We have reached this amazing milestone by flying at risk animals from overcrowded shelters to adoption centers in other states where loving families are waiting to adopt the pets.

Organizations come together

Abilene Animal Services (AAS) is a new partner for Dog is My CoPilot. After on-boarding this amazing partner, we recently flew the first life saving flight from their animal shelter. AAS is based in the City of Abilene, Texas and their mission is to educate the public to increase responsible pet ownership and prevent animal homelessness. Our initial flight saved 77 animals and Dog Is My CoPilot is excited to welcome the loving animals to fur-ever homes. It’s only because of your support that we’re able to work with new shelters and expand our life saving rescue flights.

Lucky #14,0000

Meet passenger 14,000! Luther boarded the Big Dog last Friday and flew from Abilene, Texas to Jackson Hole, Wyoming! He is a 9 month old, male, lab mix who is friendly with people and social with other dogs. This cute labrador puppy will be available for adoption soon!!

Where is Luther headed?

Luther is headed to the Animal Adoption Center (AAC) located in Jackson Hole, WY which has been a long time partner of Dog Is My CoPilot. AAC is located in a prime downtown location where they promote community interaction with animals and programs focusing on putting an end to the unnecessary killing of adoptable animals in the state of Wyoming.

15,000 is on the horizon

Unfortunately, there is never a shortage of animals to rescue. Before long, Dog Is My CoPilot will be moving past 15,000 rescued animals! Who are the pilots that make this a possibility? What are the logistics to make these flights possible? And where do all these crates come from? Stay tuned……..Dog is My CoPilot, is on the move and has a story to tell ✈️

Flying those most in need #GivingTuesdayNow

May 4, 2020

We have all been significantly impacted by COVID-19. But together with our supportive community, we continue our mission of saving lives.

The animal shelters still need our help. If you can, go by and adopt, volunteer, foster or donate. Their problems never end so we are doing what we can to help, said Pilot Peter

We have put new safety protocol in place in order to offer life-saving rescue flights for deserving shelter pets. We have just started flying again and have flown over 250 shelter animals to rescue partners with adoptive homes waiting! With hundreds of adoptive homes waiting to bring home a pet, nearly all of the animals we have flown have been adopted within days of arriving!

Please support our work with a donation to our #GivingTuesdayNow campaign, which is part of a global initiative in emergency response to the unprecedented need caused by COVID-19.

Thanks to a generous life-saving gift from the Lulu’s Fund, every dollar donated will be matched up to $3,000! This means you’re gift can be DOUBLED to help even more pets searching for their new, loving home during these challenging times.

Rescue updates for a smile

March 25, 2020

The ever evolving news stories about the coronavirus has made it hard to find the small joys in the world. Did you know that animal shelters have been impacted from the changes in our society? Since many states and cities have issued stay at home ordinances, the shelters are seeing fewer visitors, fewer volunteers and fewer adoptions. But they are still working tirelessly to get animals to forever homes. If you’re considering adopting a new pet, our partner adoption centers are trying to find homes for a growing surplus of animals of all shapes and sizes.

If you’re looking for a bit of inspiring news, check out the stories below about our passengers that have found a new loving forever home.

Buster’s new digs!

Buster was found on the side of the road in New Mexico after being hit by a car. Two good samaritans took him to the vet not knowing if he would survive the night. After a rough patch Buster has found a family and is thriving!

Buster truly is a gentle giant. At 70lbs of love, he thinks he is a lap dog. Totally unaware of his size, Buster will plop himself on your lap at any time to make himself comfortable. He is also always in the mood for some scratches and cuddles. From daily nightly walks, being cozy at the foot of the couch, to anxiously awaiting kids from their day at school, Buster is at home.

Archibald finds a family 💙

Sometimes it is just meant to be. When Archibald (formally Duke Kaboom) found his family, they were a little apprehensive. Two thirds of the humans had never had a dog before and it was essential to find a dog that had the perfect personality and temperament. Enter the sweetheart goofball, Archibald Jones! Archibald flew on the Big Dog and landed with our awesome partners One Tail at a Time PDX and found his family soon after!

Although Archibald comes from the warmer climate of El Paso, TX, he has really adapted to the rainy winter days of Portland, OR. He enjoys the smells and sights of the neighborhood, picking treats at the local pet store, and even the family cat! Archi is an active pet but is learning through rewards and practicing manners training. Watching Archi come out of his shell and bond with his new family has been a delight. Archibald is family.

“As our first family dog, (and the first dog ever for 2/3 of the humans in the family) it was essential that found a dog with the perfect personality and temperament to compliment us. Enter the sweetheart goofball, Archibald Jones (formally Duke Kaboom) who couldn’t be a better fit.

When he’s not enjoying the deep relaxation of “his” couch, Archi can be found taking in the sights and smells of our neighborhood, getting pets and choosing treats at the local pet store, along with playing with his many toys. He’s not spoiled though. Archi earns his rewards by actively participating in manners training, learning to cohabitate with one grouchy house cat, and being the absolute best boy.

The cold and rainy Portland winter days have taken some getting used to for all of us, particularly our pupper from El Paso, but the joy of watching Archi come out of his shell and bond with everyone in the family, (yes, even the cat a little bit) has warmed our hearts.

Our family will forever be thankful to OTAT PDX and Dog is My CoPilot for all the work they do to help wonderful dogs find their forever family. ”

Cheers,

Colleen, Ryan and Violet (caregivers of Dippers and Archibald Jones)

You can make a forever home!

We hope that by sharing these stories of love during a time of crisis, others will be inspired to help shelter animals just like Buster and Archibald. Animal shelters across our nation are making the hard decision to close their doors to the public because of the coronavirus pandemic. Let’s work together to ensure animals in shelters across our nation are safe. To find a shelter or rescue near you, visit this page.