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Can you tell us your name and title?

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Sure.

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Do I look over there but stay here?

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Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

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Just plant it, you can look at

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whoever's kind of asking the

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question.

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Okay, sounds good.

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So yeah, just stating and spelling

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first and last name for us.

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Okay.

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My name is August Slim.

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I'm a volunteer pilot with Pilots to

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the Rescue. We're here in Madison,

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Wisconsin today.

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We're currently waiting for

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the beagles to arrive in

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ground transportation and

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we have some kennels behind us where

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they'll be transported over to

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New Jersey and

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meet with some east

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coast animal rescue organizations.

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That way they get medical care, they

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get behavioral care and

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eventually out to loving homes.

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As a lessy animal, so it's a kind of

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similar situation that you guys see,

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I imagine everyone's different.

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That's a good question.

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So as far as our

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missions go, we do specialize

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in getting animals from overcrowded

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shelters and making sure they go to

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shelters that are specifically

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no-kill, which is very

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important. We save them from being

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euthanized.

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The thing that's special about

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today's mission is that they're

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coming not from a shelter but a

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research facility.

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So that being said,

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this one was sort of an emergency

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mission.

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Um, it wasn't normally

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something that was on our docket, it

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was a surprise to us, so,

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yeah, exactly.

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Being part of Pilots to the Rescue

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means being able to use your

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pilot's license in service

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of others, making change in the

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world instead of just using your

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license to get a cool

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job. You actually get to serve not

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just the animals and give them

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another chance, but these animals

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are going to humans that will love

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them, and it will help with their

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depression, anxiety, grief, whatever

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they're going through.

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So in a way, not only do you help

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the animals, but people get

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family members.

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When you say this was an emergency,

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like how short notice was it?

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That I can't say because it was

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really only short notice to me, so

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I don't really know the

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specifics, sorry.

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A day.

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A day?

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A day!

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Whereas you normally kind of know

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what you're going to be doing, how

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far into the future.

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Exactly.

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So with Pilots to the Rescue, we

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have a great team.

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One person on our team being a

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coordinator.

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So she has a docket of the

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missions that are upcoming that the

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pilots can get on and

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volunteer for.

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So this one specifically with the

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Beagles wasn't on our docket

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originally. So that's why we call it

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an emergency mission.

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And how many other missions have you

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been part of?

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I believe four.

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What are those emotions like?

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I mean, when you guys touch down and

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you're seeing these animals kind of

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go to their new beginning.

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The first emotion that comes up

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is definitely gratitude.

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But I do want to highlight how

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different it is seeing it on camera.

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It's a different feeling when you

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actually see their malnourished

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bodies in person and their very

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cute faces in person.

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It's definitely a different vibe

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versus just seeing them through

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a screen, for sure.

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It's a very emotional thing to be

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part of and

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lots of feelings of hope for them

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and excitement for them.

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And even though they come looking

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very sad, we don't really know all

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of their stories, but you know what

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their future is going to look like.

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Filled with lots of love, so that's

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always a good thing.

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I'm not going to take you.

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But if we have a tailwind, four

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hours.

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If we don't, five hours.

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So pray for us.

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Sorry if you already mentioned this,

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but are these crates the amount of

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dogs that are going with you, or

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how many dogs are going?

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Oh is it 20?

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22?

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Oh right, okay.

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So Pilots to the Rescue has

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air transport and also

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ground transport.

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So in the air today we're taking 20

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beagles and then on the ground it'll

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be 40.

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And why, I guess,

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fly them instead of all of them

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being ground transport?

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Is there kind

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of like an urgency to it or is it

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just a way of making sure they're

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getting to where they need to go?

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Well, one of the barriers for

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animals actually finding new homes

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and preventing them from being

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euthanized is transportation.

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So having an airplane gives us

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access to quicker

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transportation, especially if

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there's medical care involved.

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Anything else you want to add?

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Yeah, I was immediately trying to

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say something else, hold on, let me

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think.

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Have you ever met the families

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that they go to or you just

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deliver them and

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you don't know kind of

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where everyone ends up?

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Well, Pilots to the Rescue has

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a relationship with a

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few different shelters.

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It's a good relationship, I would

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say. So if we wanted to actually

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keep up with the animals, we have

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access to that.

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We can't say we know everyone's

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journey and everyone's story, but I

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know that just on our mission

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yesterday, I got the contact of one

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of the veterinarians because I was

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especially invested in one of cats

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that we rescued that had broken

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legs from getting hit by a car.

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And so I was very

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connected to this cat for some

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reason. So I asked for her.

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The vet's contact and

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she's setting the updates as we

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speak on that cat.

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So this is a very personal thing

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for you.

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For me, I have a rescue myself,

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and I love him.

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And so when I see other animals that

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were in a similar situation, or even

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worse, they were almost euthanized,

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it was very touching.

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Make sure that they get a second

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chance at life instead.

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Of course.

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Thank you. Alright, let's get you

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inside.