Michael Schneider of Pilots to Rescue flew 16 dogs from Mississippi to North Carolina, including two Great Pyrenees named Apollo and Abby. The organization rescued nearly 600 dogs last year and wants to hit 1,000 this year. Schneider is fundraising $1 million for a larger plane that could increase capacity tenfold.
Michael Schneider, Top Dog Pilots to Rescue, here at Asheville Regional Airport. Flew down from Essex County, our home airport, rescuing 12 dogs today from Friends of Grenada County Animal Shelter in Mississippi, um, in partnership with Bissell Pet Foundation. And we have 2 influencers joining us today, Christina Harris, Beauty Chicky, and Paige Sikofsky. And thank you for joining us. We have 12 dogs and they're going to, um, I'm not sure where they're going to today. I'm a little confused about that, but— oh, Providence. Providence is the name of the receiving shelter where you can adopt them. Hi, Ransom. Hi, Patty. And we're gonna— here's Jenny, who drove from Mississippi from Friends of Grenada Animal Shelter. And, uh, what do you know about the dogs today?
Well, we've got a litter of 6 puppies, uh, did 222, um, and their mama stayed back in Mississippi. Um, the people who rescued these— the people rescued the mama, and then the mama was pregnant, and so they fell in love with Mama and they kept her. And then we got 3 little cheese up here, puppy 1, puppy 2, puppy 3. And then this is Israel.
Hi Israel!
Yeah, she's had a hard time, but she's so much better. She's just learning to trust me.
Okay.
And then those are still the 222s. That's what those are.
Litter.
Yeah.
And over here— oh, the 222s.
Yeah, that's 6 puppies, but I just—
6 puppies here.
His provenance, uh, is in Rhode Island? I think it's in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania.
But I want to show you what's in the back.
Oh yeah, let's see what's in the back. Little cheese. And these are the big guys back here. Two Great Pyrenees, right?
Yep, that's right. Apollo and Abby.
Oh, I rescued an Apollo, um, Malamute. Malamute.
I don't know, but this—
Apollo, big guy.
I'm sorry, go.
Yeah, no, go ahead.
This buddy just Got out a few minutes ago. They broke out and—
oh, he broke out?
Yeah, I had the van just back open so they could get some air, and I ran to the restroom, and when I came back— well, somebody kind of got me. He was just roaming around having a good time. It was really scary there for a minute.
Oh, so, all right, well, thank you for driving all this way from Mississippi.
Yeah, thank y'all.
All right, Mississippi, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Mississippi. I appreciate everything y'all did.
Sure. And here is Christina Beauty Chicky and Paige.
Hello!
How was the flight?
So Amazing.
Oh my God, it was amazing. Views smooth.
Two pups in the back, they're amazing.
Couldn't have been better. Yeah, well, thank you for supporting us today.
Of course. Thank you.
You ready to load up and go?
Yeah, I'm so excited to have a little puppy wagon.
All right, great. One last look at the dogs. We're gonna keep it brief today. These guys are gonna be keeping, uh, Paige company in the back. Yes, here's the, uh, 2, 2, 2, and 2 pups. 2, 2, and 2 in there. Here's Israel, all going to Providence. That's the name of the shelter, Providence. Some chi puppies. Now we're going to play the, uh, game of Tetris and, uh, figure out how we're going to fit these 2 big Pyrenees in the plane. It's going to be tight. But we know we can do it. So, uh, thank you once again for supporting Pilots to Rescue. Please share this live stream, donate, purchase our merchandise, help us get to— uh, we're trying to raise another million dollars to purchase a Cessna Caravan, which can hold 10 times the amount of animals. We're really maxed out with this tiny Saratoga, and it's time for us to acquire another plane. Very expensive to fly, as you can imagine. But we're saving a lot of animals. The goal this year is 1,000. It's a lofty goal. Last year we did nearly 600, and with your support, we can hopefully turn that into 10,000. That's— those are the type of numbers that we can do in a caravan versus this tiny 6-seater. So again, please support us any way you possibly can. Really appreciate it. We got another rescue tomorrow, 3 rescues in a row. We're going down to Southern Pines and working with A New Chance Animal Rescue. It's an ongoing partner. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. See you soon.
