Pilots fly dozens of pets from overcrowded Georgia animal shelters

Relief for overcrowded animal shelters in Georgia

We have told you many times about the crowded conditions at north Georgia animal shelters and rescue organizations. Too many dogs and cats and too few people are adopting. About two dozen dogs got a fresh start Thursday when they took to air on their way to New Jersey and New York.

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. - FOX 5 has reported many times on the crowded conditions at north Georgia animal shelters and rescue organizations with too many dogs and cats and too few people adopting. More than two dozen dogs and cats got a fresh start when they took to the air on their way to New Jersey and New York thanks to a nonprofit organization called Pilots to the Rescue.

Georgia animal shelters overpopulated

What we know:

Georgia shelters might be packed, but not so in New York and the northeast states, where these lucky dogs and cats were heading to a better life and a much better chance of adoption. 

Dogs like Ella, who was a stray in Worth County. She was found last month with no chip and possibly had no chance of adoption. 

A snapshot taken aboard the Pilots to the Rescue plane showed Ella in the lab of a volunteer while heading to New York for what will hopefully be a better life for her. 

The dogs and cats came from crowded shelters and rescue organizations in Heard, Pike, Bibb and Worth counties, among others.

Volunteers with Pilots to the Rescue along with employees of Hartz Loving Paws, the petcare company, flew into Falcon Field in Peachtree City on Thursday. 

They picked up 26 cats and dogs from overcrowded shelters in north Georgia, animals who might face euthanasia in some of those facilities.

Pilots to the Rescue

Dig deeper:

Pilot MacKenzie Brendlen has been a volunteer with the New York City nonprofit since 2024. She says they fly about 2 similar missions a week out of Caldwell Airport in New Jersey and she personally pilots about 2 missions a month.

"It is the most unbelievable thing in the world to combine something that I love doing, flying planes and helping animals," she said. "I’m very grateful to do this."

If you are curious about how well dogs and cats fly in plane, they say there’s a lot of barking and meowing at first, then they all settle down and fall asleep, lulled by the humming of the props and the motion of the plane.

What's next:

The plane landed in New Jersey on Tuesday afternoon. 

Volunteers will then place the dogs and cats with rescue organizations and foster care families as they wait for adoption.