Michael Schneider runs Pilots to Rescue, which flies animals from overcrowded East Coast shelters to places with better adoption odds. Nearly one million animals are still euthanized yearly in the U.S., often because shelters lack space and funding, not because the animals are sick or dangerous.
We spread good through Pilots to Rescue by transporting animals that are facing euthanasia. These are typically animals down south here on the East Coast that are at overcrowded and underfunded municipally run shelters. So by transporting them, they avoid their fate and they have a chance, better chance of getting adopted by a loving home. Our work at Pilots to Rescue is so important because animals give unconditional love, and it's just a tragedy that they have to be euthanized. Perfectly good animals that can provide a lot of love, and because the lack of space in these shelters. A lot of it comes down to politics and money, um, and people not opening up their home to adopting animals. They have to euthanize to make space for other ones, and just, it shouldn't be that way, and it doesn't have to be that way. Luckily, the numbers are improving, and through Pilots to Rescue, because it's such a novel concept, we get more awareness about this problem we have in the United States. We're still euthanizing nearly a million animals each year.
