MELBOURNE, Fla. – Pat Piccornell loves to fly, and you could say she has a thing for dogs. She’s combining her passions by flying rescue missions for pups nationwide.
Piccornell is a pilot for Pilots N Paws, which is a nonprofit organization that connects volunteering pilots with shelters that need help moving animals to areas that give them a better chance at getting adopted.
Piccornell saves animals around the country, but each month she makes a special trip to Freeport, Grand Bahamas,from Melbourne, Florida. She donates her plane, time and$300 for gas and customs fees.
At the Humane Society of the Grand Bahamas, dogs were excited to see News 6. But the tough reality is that without Piccornell, some of the facility's pups won’t make it until tomorrow.
"Our animals have about a 10 percent chance of being adopted locally on the island. We are it. We are the end of the road for them," said Tip Burrows, who is the director of the facility.
Burrows said her facility is built to hold 150 cats and dogs, but she is always over capacity. She said she believes the overpopulation comes from a cultural disconnect Bahamians have with their pets.
"There is a large segment of the population that won't have an animal in the house,” said Burrows. “When they have an animal, they either can't afford or won't invest any funds or resources into taking care of that animal. So when something happens to it, it's easy to abandon or surrender it because they haven't really formed a bond.”
That's where she said Picrrornell comes in.
"I would say in the last 2 ½ years since this been going on, Pat is probably responsible for saving over 300 dogs," said Burrows.
"It's so rewarding to be able to take these animals that you know are coming from dire situations, and a lot of cases they are alive now because someone was willing to pull them before they were euthanized. And we are the lucky ones -- we get to take them from that dire situation to a rescue that opens its hearts and homes to them," Piccornell said.
It took Piccornell and two other pilots to save 31 dogs. She said that on this trip, it was a smooth but noisy ride back to Fort Pierce, Florida.
"Every once in while we get a barker and some of them bark the whole trip, but for the most part, the dogs think they are in a car," said Piccornell.
It took a few of the dogs some time getting used to a new country, but others were quick to embrace a change because it's another shot at life for them.
Volunteers said Piccornell isn't just a hero for the dogs.
"She's a hero to us, as well,” said volunteer Lynda Carlson. “From the start, when she uses her own plane and organizes the other pilots involved, she spends hours and hours doing this. It's amazing.”
For more information, go to http://www.pilotsnpaws.org