Local animals have found a new way to find forever homes through an organization called Wings of Rescue, which will be transporting shelter pets from the Humane Society Cedar Creek Lake.

Approximately 28 animals are being transported by the ASPCA Rescue Ride to the airport. The process consists of several days of preparation including volunteers walking dogs and doing last minute preparations for travel at 1 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 22. Their flight to freedom leaves at 6 a.m.

“The ASPCA partnership is amazing,” said Sharon Banaszak, HSCCL director. “Monique with Rescue ride has been with us the entire time. From health checks to kennels, the process takes volunteers around four days.”

Wings of Rescue’s volunteer pilots and planes transport at-risk pets from high traffic shelters to shelters with open kennels and adopters waiting. This is the second flight for the local shelter who has either at least one ground rescue ride or flight every other week.

“We are the only all-volunteer organization to fly this number of pets to safety,” the WoR website states. “We transport healthy dogs and cats, pregnant and nursing moms and pets in need of major surgical procedures.”

The advantage to this over ground transport is that most flights are completed in three to four hours as opposed to up to 24 hours. This is an incredible benefit to animals in need of major surgeries.

The group operates completely from donations and relies on volunteer pilots to make it possible.

According to Wings of Rescue, they have flown 735 pets just this month from overcrowded shelters. The pets have been leaving the shelters to new homes in an average of two days of being posted for adoption.

Locally, Banaszak said that they have been averaging 100 pets a month being rescued through on site adoptions. Flights and rides rotate approximately every other week with an average of 25 animals sent to loving homes with each transport.

“If you follow the rescues receiving the animals, you see the animals being rescued many times, within days of arrival,” said Stacie Flowers, a local volunteer. “Even bonded pairs have averaged two weeks in many cases.”

It is puppy and kitten season, and the rescues and shelters are overwhelmed with them and people are encouraged to spay and neuter their pets. If you have financial hardships that prevent you from doing so, there are local resources to help you. Please contact HSCCL or their sister rescue, Athens Animal Rescue Shelter for more information.

Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake is a non-profit that takes in thousands of animals a year and diligently strives to find them loving forever homes while educating the public on ways we can reduce the need for rescues being over-populated.

If you have become overwhelmed with the amount of animals you have, have hit hard times, or have seen an animal being abused or neglected, please visit their website for valuable tips and insight. If the animal is in a dangerous environment, please contact the Henderson County Sheriffs Office.

One of the needs rescues have is transport assistance and the need for fosters and volunteers. Please contact your local shelter or rescue to find out ways you can help.

Wings of Rescue is a non-profit charity founded in 2012, that flies endangered pets from high intake and/or high-kill shelters to no-kill shelters from where they have all been adopted into loving homes. To date we have flown 99 flights carrying 7,161 pets - 4,868 dogs, 2,276 cats, 13 pot-bellied pigs, three rabbits and one Cockatoo to safety, and have flown in 137,996 pounds of humanitarian aid into the Bahamas.

If you would like to donate or volunteer for WoR, visit its site at wingsofrescue.org.

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