Wings of Rescue—These Pilots Go To Great Lengths To Find Shelter Dogs Facing Euthanasia New Homes

A group of volunteer pilots are going the distance to find rescue dogs due to be euthanized new homes. Called Wings of Rescue the nonprofit organization, which operates out of Van Nuys, California, has saved over 15,000 dogs, finding the new homes across the United States since it started in 2009.

The dogs come from animal shelters across California and because they're running out of room to house the animals, they have to be euthanized. So the pilots, along with other volunteers who dedicate time to the Wings of Rescue project, fly the doomed dogs to foster homes, new owners, and rescue centers to save them.

"Dogs of all ages including pregnant dogs and their newborn puppies – spend their last day in a shelter and are euthanized simply due to lack of space." says the project's website. "Too many dogs, not enough homes. We work every day to change that by providing desperately needed air transport for our rescue partners and the thousands of animals they save each year from high kill shelters in California. We fly these precious passengers in private airplanes to their new forever homes and rescue organizations up and down the west coast in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and even Canada."

The organisation says it costs around $80 per dog for the flights, because they have to use private jets and charter planes. So they welcome donations from the public, check out their site if you want to support them.

And check out some pics of the airborne pooches below.