In this live‑stream segment, Michael Schneider of Pilots to Rescue narrates the rescue of eleven shelter dogs from Grenada, Mississippi, to the Broome County Animal Shelter in upstate New York. The operation is coordinated with a volunteer driver, Jenny, who endured a 10‑hour, 12‑minute round‑trip drive, and a local nonprofit volunteer who runs a foster program in Grenada. The video highlights logistical challenges (weather delays, headwinds, plane loading), the emotional toll on volunteers, and the partnership with the Bissell Pet Foundation, Kathy Bissell, and sponsor Cuddly. Each dog is introduced by name (e.g., Santa, Susie Q, Violet, Isabelle, Starlight, Banana, Taco, Cowboy, Molly, Stoogie, Glory). The team discusses upcoming rescue trips (Friday and Tuesday) aimed at clearing the shelter before a management change, and promotes future fundraising efforts, including a larger aircraft campaign and a Puppy Bowl appearance on February 13. The tone is conversational, enthusiastic, and appreciative of volunteers and supporters.
Chapters
Michael Schneider here, Pilots to Rescue Top Dog. We're down here in Asheville, North Carolina, picking up 11 dogs today from Grenada, Mississippi. Jenny was a very generous volunteer to drive all this way to meet us, and she's going to talk a little bit about these 11 precious furry souls that we're transporting. And they're going to Broome County Animal Shelter in, I believe that's Binghamton, New York, or upstate New York. Broome County Animal animal shelter, and today's flight is in partnership with Bissell Pet Foundation and Kathy Bissell and sponsored by Cuddly. I do have my Cuddly merch on, proudly wearing my Cuddly AF. I will not repeat what that stands for, but I think you could figure it out. And, uh, Jenny had a very difficult drive, but she made it. Hi, Jenny!
Hey!
Who do you have here?
I've got Stoogie and Glory.
Stoogie and Glory?
Yes, they're tired of being in the van.
They're ready to get down and rock and roll. How long of a drive was it? Well, it should have been 9 hours, but it was 10:12 our time.
Yeah, and thanks for meeting us. We had some issues with weather and headwinds, so Jenny picked up the slack and drove the extra distance. So thank you for doing that. So tell us about these animals that we're rescuing today. Well, I'll go in there so they can all meet them, but—
All these dogs are from the city of Grenada. I'm sorry, they all came from the city of Grenada animal shelter, but I have a nonprofit I run a nonprofit in Grenada, and, um, I help with the animal shelter. I do all the animal placement. I find, um, rescues for them to go to, and then I also provide all their bedding and medical care. But then when the shelter gets crowded, I take them home with me. And so I've had, I think, 6 in the van. 6 of them that I brought today have been at my house, and some of them have been at my house since last summer. So it's gonna be a really sad day today, right?
And this is, uh, one of multi-series we're doing with Bissell. So we're going to be seeing you again Friday?
On Friday and then Tuesday.
Yeah, we're talking about Tuesday also. And will that clear out the shelter with those 3 trips?
There, there'll be a few left. I'm hoping that maybe they can find rescue, um, a rescue to take them so they'll all be gone. The shelter is going to be changing management. Okay, so we're trying to get everything—
trying to get everybody out before you change management.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Thank you. So you're going to get some much-needed rest tonight. I understand you left at 3:00 a.m. this morning.
Yeah, I didn't— I think I slept for an hour last night because I had to organize Christ— it's fine, it's story moment. Yeah, well worth it. It's worth it.
And that's the one thing that a lot of people don't realize is one of the reasons we do this work is to help alleviate these wonderful road warriors that are driving nearly 24 hours round trip, and we give them a little bit of a break because they're doing it day in, day out. And I can fly this plane 8 hours in a day, but I don't know if I could drive 24 hours. I just don't— I, I think I just— I don't have it in me. So we're gonna do a quick, uh, live stream in here to meet the pups. I don't know all the dogs' names, and you're probably not gonna hear Jenny talk about them anyway, so we'll just run through. Welcome everybody, and thank you for supporting us. What's this dog's name?
Santa. Santa. He came in December, so I named him Santa.
Santa.
And this guy, she's a female. Susie Q. Susie Q.
That's Violet.
Violet. Yep. Okay.
That's Isabelle.
Isabelle.
She's one of my fosters.
Okay. Starlight, the brown mouth on the bottom.
Starlight.
Okay. And then on the top, next to Isabelle, that's Banana. Banana.
Banana.
Banana.
Taco. Okay, you going to go to the back? Oh yeah, of course.
Then this is Cowboy right there.
Cowboy. And then Molly.
And Molly. Molly.
Amazing. All right, so now we have The— now we play the giant game of Tetris to figure out how we're going to fit all these dogs in this little plane. I want to thank all of you for supporting Pilots to the Rescue. Don't forget to watch us. We're going to be on the Puppy Bowl on February 13th, 2 PM. It's before the Super Bowl. And, um, I'm—
I—
they're doing a story on Elias Friedman. He's the founder of the Dogus and myself. We rescued, uh, a deaf Dalmatian, and, um, we're one of the pup close and personal stories. So check that out on February 13th, 2 PM before the Puppy Bowl. Thank you for supporting us. Thank you for your donations. Thank you for sharing these posts, buying merch. Uh, we're halfway there to, uh, raise enough money to buy the Cessna Caravan, the bigger plane that can carry, uh, at least double, if not 5 times the amount of animals. And, uh, we'll see you on Friday. Bye!
