Group Flies Strays From Shelters, To Areas Where They Can Be Adopted

Here's a heartwarming tail -- er, tale -- that should bring a smile to even the most downtrodden pilot's face.

Jon Wehrenberg flies some unusual, and occasionally loud, packages. On a recent flight to Greensboro, NC, his cargo -- five dogs from a Knoxville, TN animal shelter -- started barking at 13,000 feet, filling the cockpit of his Cessna with a howling cacophony.

But Wehrenberg didn't mind a bit... since the noise is definitely preferable to the alternative. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports Wehrenberg often flies dogs from the Young-Williams Animal Center to an animal rescue facility in Greensboro.

The Knoxville shelter doesn't have room to keep all the dogs there... meaning often, animals that go unclaimed are euthanized. Some 12,000 animals were killed at the shelter in 2007 alone. Wehrenberg's flights give the dogs a second chance at life, and adoption. Since February, he's flown 48 dogs to the Greensboro foster care facility.

"People wonder: Why would I want to do this?" Wehrenberg says. "The answer is because I can."

Though space is at a premium for rescued animals in Knoxville, in other areas -- like Greensboro, and Jamestown -- dogs are in demand due in part to successful spaying and neutering programs that keep the number of strays to a minimum. The only problem is, how to get more dogs to where they're wanted?

Enter Wehrenberg, who along with a friend formed "Pilots-N-Paws" last year. Tim Adams, executive director for Young-Williams, says the program will help lower the number of animals destroyed at the shelter this year.

"If there's are rescues that will take a pet, we will work to find a way," he said.

So far, Pilots-N-Paws has flown over 60 dogs across the country... but since Wehrenberg accounts for nearly 2/3 of that number, he says there's room for more pilots to donate a wing, and a hand.

"They didn't ask to be brought into this world, or to be abused," Wehrenberg says of the animals he flies. "They are always friendly, forgiving. I think we owe them something."

FMI: www.pilotsnpaws.org/