We Save Pets’ Lives and Bring Joy to Pet Owners
Each day loving, healthy, highly adoptable dogs and cats are euthanized because overcrowded shelters have run out of kennel space. Throughout the western hemisphere, there is an imbalance between places where too many pets crowd local shelters, and where not enough pets are available to satisfy adoption demand. When you add in the impact from natural disasters (which place additional pressures on local animal rescue efforts), the need for large-scale air transport of at-risk pets is critical, so Wings of Rescue is there to perform its rescue missions.
Partnering with local shelters and national animal-welfare organizations, we identify situations and circumstances throughout North America where pets are at high risk and shelter resources are overwhelmed. We then find shelter partners who can take these pets, give them the care they need, and find each one a new, loving home. Our procedures and policies assure that all the pets we rescue are healthy, in need of a new home and not simply lost waiting to be reunited with their owners, and that no pets at the receiving shelters are displaced by the new arrivals.
Operation Pit Stop, a Free Spay and Neuter Program we Sponsor, has been a Giant Success!
Here’s a public-service video about Operation Pit Stop from NHL hockey superstar Victor Hedman, who plays for the Tampa Bay Lightning and who believes in properly spaying or neutering your pets. Thanks Victor, and we look forward to seeing your hot moves out there on the ice!
OVER 2,400 BULLY BREED DOGS HAVE BEEN ALTERED!
These pictures from the Operation Pit Stop just completed in Tulsa, are just an indication of the incredible vets, shelter staff and volunteers that make Operation Pit Stop such a success. Our thanks go out to every one at our shelter partners who put in the extra time and effort to do these surgeries and make a huge dent in the dog overpopulation problem.
WHY WE ARE DOING THIS
Because pit bulls have such large litters (sometimes up to 12 puppies), and because they are a difficult breed to adopt out, thousands of pit bull puppies and adults are euthanized in shelters each year, and many languish in cages, unwanted and unloved. We want to stop that tradegy and eliminate unplanned and unwanted puppies from ever happening in the first place.
So if you are a pit bull owner, we encourage you to do the kind thing for the breed you love, and get your dog spayed or neutered. We’ll even do it for free, and provide updated vaccinations, too, based on location and availability. Plus, all participants will receive free dog food courtesy of Chewy.
We are working closely with local shelters to make it easy for bull-breed owners to take advantage of these free services. Check back soon for more information and links to your local provider if they aren’t here already!
Save the Dates and visit operationpitstop.org for More Information!
LOUISIANA: Four Parishes in December and January
FT. WORTH: November and December 2023
MIAMI-DADE: October, November and December 2023
KAUAI: Coming soon to Hawaii!
GAINESVILE, FLORIDA: Coming Soon!
NASSAU THE BAHAMAS: Coming in January 2024
We know pit bull owners love their pets. And sometimes that love leads to a decision to breed those pets or to leave males “intact” and females vulnerable to unwanted pregnancies. Doing this isn’t showing love for your pet, it’s putting each puppy at risk for a hard life. Many of the pit bulls that show up at local shelters started out being wanted and the result of good intentions. But invariably it is difficult to find homes for pit bull puppies and many people who agree to take them end up surrendering them later. Regardless of how they end up in a shelter, once they do, life is very uncertain and many end up euthanized.
Here's a Great Chart from Our Friends at
IndyHumane on Why It Is a Good Idea
to Spay or Neuter ALL Pets!
Do the Right Thing and Alter Your Pet!
Just Some of the Reasons Why We Fly
We Help Pets
The most direct result from our work is that over 61,000 pets have been saved since 2012. Most of these pets faced dire circumstances and very poor prospects until they made it on to one of our planes and on their way to a new life and much more positive outcome.
We Help People
Not only do we believe strongly that the addition of a pet to one’s life is satisfying, rewarding and stimulating, but we also deliver direct support to communities in need by transporting appropriate supplies and education during our incoming flights.
We Help Shelters
The hard work of animal rescue begins on the ground and in the field. By helping to reduce pet populations in local shelters, our work allows rescue personnel and volunteers to put more resources into saving pets’ lives than into simply housing pets.
Our Planes Provide Disaster Relief Both Coming and Going
During and After Natural Disasters, We Are Wheels Down to Help
When events like hurricanes, earthquakes, flooding, freezing-cold weather, or any other natural disaster hit a community, it places great burdens on local pet-rescue operations, who immediately see an increase in pet populations needing care and housing. We provide relief for local shelters by transporting pets already available for adoption to alternate facilities, freeing much-needed space for the pets displaced by the emergency. This allows shelter personnel and volunteers more time and resources to care for and re-unite lost or displaced pets with their local owners.
We Don’t Just Pick up Pets. We Deliver Supplies and Aid to All in Need
At Wings of Rescue, we adhere to a “never fly an empty plane if possible” philosophy, so we work very hard to make our flights helpful and life-saving both coming and going from the disaster zones into which we fly. On our way to pick up pets, we often deliver humanitarian and veterinarian aid in the form of food, medicine, shelter supplies, crates and other essential goods. Since our founding in 2012, we’ve successfully delivered over 375 tons of disaster relief to communities in need throughout North America, and responded to nearly every type of natural disaster.
Wherever We Land, Our Planes Also Deliver Education, Best Practices, Goodwill and Hope
It’s not enough in our mind to simply rescue unwanted pets and deliver disaster relief. Along the way and to anyone who will listen, we are strong promoters of responsible pet ownership, effective spay-and-neuter programs and community investment in local shelter facilities and rescue operations. We provide funding and have developed programs for low- or no-cost spay-and-neuter procedures, and work closely with our partners on the ground to be sure every pet is well-cared for and that the message of responsible pet ownership is getting through to the communities where it is needed most. And we carry with us an optimistic and hopeful approach to the challenges of animal rescue, along with smiling faces, encouragement and deep appreciation for the hard work being done in the field.
Operation Pit Stop
We instituted Operation Pit Stop to provide free spay-and-neuter services to already-owned pets in communities where overpopulation, especially of Bull breeds, creates crowded shelter conditions and high euthanasia rates.
All Pets Are Welcome
We have transported not just dogs and cats, but rabbits, guinea pigs, pot-bellied pigs, miniature horses, birds and even a three-legged mouse. The life of each pet is equally important to us.
Sharing Best Practices
As we travel around North America we often learn what works and what doesn’t work from our partners. By sharing these best practices, we are able to deliver valuable information and experience to sometimes-isolated facilities throughout North America.
Some of Our Happy Success Stories
Moonie
As told by new owners Share and Bam
Harri
As told by new owner Ellen:
When my beloved 15-year-old golden retriever died, I felt that as an older woman I could no longer provide the life a golden needs, so when it was time to think of another pup, I went to the Kitsap Humane Society in Silverdale, Washington just to look.
And there he was, a 25-pound Corgi shaped guy with long golden fur, a beauty with a look of gentle intelligence written all over his face. He was hiding and facing the wall at the very back of his cage. He’d been flown from Bakersfield to Boeing Field the day before and was still a bit traumatized by the experience.
A volunteer brought him out to meet me. It was love at first sight. We’ve been together about 5 years now. I’m 77 now and slower than I used to be. I find myself living with a dog who still loves to play and to explore, but now he’s an empathetic soul who slows his pace when he thinks I’m unsteady. Harri stops to look back to check that I’ve managed the uneven ground or a steep curb, and when I fell one day, he stayed glued to my side until help arrived.
We’ve evolved from me taking care of Harri to Harri taking care of me. He’s a true gift.
Nuki
As told by new owners John and Dan:
We had talked about adopting a male kitten as a companion for our kitty Sweetie, who lost her brother and best friend,Tigger to cancer a year earlier, but when we saw Nuki, an adult female, there was something special about her. All the other cats were asleep or otherwise ignoring us, but she was awake, alert and watched us no matter where we went. She came right up to us, and tried to rub against our hands through the glass. We could tell she liked people, and wanted attention. We were optimistic that she would get along with Sweetie.
We adopted Nuki in October through the Sussex branch of Brandywine Valley SPCA in Rehoboth Beach, DE. When we brought her home, the introduction to Sweetie went even better than we had hoped. Nuki warmed up to us pretty quickly, too. She follows us around like a puppy. If one of us sits down she has to be right there next to us.
She’s turned out to be a good traveler, a big relief as we travel frequently between Rehoboth Beach and Washington, DC. The only tricky part is getting her into a pet carrier! We still miss Tigger, but Nuki has helped take away some of that sadness and we think he’d approve of Sweetie having a new sister.
