Animal Talk pet of the week: Coco

By Karen Kalunian
Posted 9/19/17

A stunning purebred German Shepard named Coco is waiting for a new home at the Warwick Animal Shelter.

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Animal Talk pet of the week: Coco

Posted

A stunning purebred German Shepard named Coco is waiting for a new home at the Warwick Animal Shelter. This beautiful girl was turned in by her owner who could no longer care for her. 

Coco is every German Shepard lover's dream, she is stunning! She is two years young, walks well on the leash and is very smart. She is best suited for an adult only household with no other animals, so if you fit that criteria be sure to go in to meet this beauty! 

You can call the shelter at 401-468-4377 for more information or stop by during their hours of operation: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 12 to 4 p.m. or Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. They are located at 101 Arthur Devine Blvd., Warwick, RI 02886 

Flying Mutts Rescue

Flying Mutts Rescue is a 501c3 nonprofit corporation dedicated to saving at risk dogs in high kill areas through General Aviation. Our services are offered at no cost to anyone, and Pilots generously donate their aircraft, fuel, and time. We have flown 63 dogs ranging in size from Chihuahua to St. Bernard since we began in 2016. Our goal is to alleviate the cost of transport so Rescues can save more dogs.

A rescue flight takes about two weeks to plan, and there are normally multiple animals, and organizations involved. We field requests from local Rescues here in New England who have animals in the South they are rescuing and transporting North. Most dogs come from North Carolina and South Carolina. An average flight from there usually takes around five hours of flight time, compared to 15 hours of driving. Before the flight we receive information on the animals such as where they are located, health condition, temperament, and how they got to the Shelter. We love to know as much as we can about all of the dogs we are flying. 

About a week in advance of the flight we start looking at the weather forecasts while coordinating with drivers, fosters, shelters, and rescues. As many of you know weather is changing all the time, and it is generally difficult to forecast and know exactly what the weather will do until the day before, and sometimes the day of the flight. Our pilots make the call to cancel, or continue with the planned flight at that time based on their own evaluation. Once they decide it is safe to proceed, it is time to fly.

The morning of the flight we are usually up around 6 a.m. preparing all necessary materials, and supplies for the flight to ensure the dogs are comfortable. On the way to the airport we get our final weather briefing, and then pre-flight the aircraft upon arrival to make sure it is safe. We usually take off between 8 - 9 a.m., and plan on returning back anywhere between 3 - 5 p.m. to our location in Massachusetts. Our route of flight usually takes us over Providence, Long Island, New York City and then South from there to the pick up location. We cruise at altitudes ranging from 3,000 to 10,000 feet on our trips, which are more than safe for the pilots, and animals. These are same altitudes you would experience flying in a commercial airliner. 

Once we meet the animals for pickup we spend some time to  walk them, give them water, and ensure they have all required health certificates, and vaccinations for transport.  Once everything checks out we are back in the airplane for their ride to the rescue. At all times during the flight the dogs are always within arms reach of the pilot. Our aircraft usually have two seats up front, and two passenger seats right behind that. The dogs are tethered, or are in crates right behind the pilot. This is the part we love, because we get to spend time with dogs.

A lot of them sleep during the flight, look out the window, or stick their head up front with us so we can give them scratches. Upon arrival the rescues come out to meet the dogs, and we finally get to see the happiness on everyone's faces that they finally made it, this is the best part. The dogs then go back to the rescues and are made available to the public when they are ready for adoption. 

We encourage all to volunteer at their local rescue or shelter, and more importantly to foster. Fostering gives animals a temporary  spot in your home, and allows Rescues to save more animals from euthanization. Speak to your local shelter/rescue if fostering is something you are interested in. If you would like to learn more information about what we do, or what you can do to help dogs in need, you can email us at mike@flyingmutts.org

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