2009  Aug  14

We love it when rescue flights work out this way!  We filled the airplane for every leg of its route with animals saved from the worst and on their way to real homes or sanctuaries where love and care await.  Balto the injured homeless American Eskimo dog flew with us from Camarillo up to Marin County; Quincy the chow, whose condition when rescued was the worst ever, flew with us from Ventura County to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada; and Old Yeller the young homeless yellow lab mix flew with us from Cameron Park, CA to a real home in southern C California.    

Balto had the classic, infectiously bright and joyful expression of an American Eskimo dog.  We shake our heads in wonder at how dogs like this can possibly fall on such hard times.  He had been found homeless and hungry with an injured front leg near Camarillo, CA.  The rescuers cared for him and had his leg repaired by a very complicated and expensive surgery.  A very kind woman in Marin County, who loves these dogs and has shared her home with several American Eskimo dogs, contributed generously to his veterinary surgery and care and was now welcoming him permanently into her home.  One very lucky Balto!!

Quincy the chow had apparently been most unlucky in life up to now.  When finally found and taken to a shelter in Ventura County, CA, he was in very bad shape, his fur matted and quite unhealthy, his skin covered with scabs and infected sores and wounds.  When rescuers took him from the shelter to save him from euthanasia, they rushed him to veterinarians.  In order to treat his skin and because his coat was such a matted smelly mess that added to his skin infections, they had to shave him completely.  Thankfully, they salvaged a minimum of dignity for him by leaving some fur on his handsome head.  His new hope was a welcome chow rescue in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, above Sacramento, CA.  On Wings Of Care was called in order to get him there as quickly and comfortably as possible.

With this brief story told to us about Quincy, we expected to find a dog with some -- well, 'attitude quirks.'  But that's not what we found!  Quincy was stoic and patient as most every chow can be.  Those classic chow traits of self-containment and loyalty to loved ones is ones we've come to expect and admire in chows.  But what we didn't expect from Quincy was how quickly he became receptive and affectionate with us.  He must have realized from the love shown him by Blake and his other rescuers that his days of pain and heartache were over.  After the volunteer introduced him to us and we all explained to Quincy that he was going to go for a ride with us to a wonderful place just for him and from there to a real and forever home and family, he relaxed and became sweet and responsive, with a look of eagerness and expectance that rivaled Balto's!  His big chow heart must have been bursting with joy and hope.  When we see this kind of attitude in a dog who has been through such  horror, we thank the universe for rescuers and feel renewed awe at the intelligence and the willingness to forgive and forget and move forward hopefully that virtually all rescued animals show.

The two unlikely traveling companions Balto and Quincy rode together beautifully.   We landed first at a small airstrip Marin County where Balto's new human was waiting for him.  Quincy seemed concerned about our leaving Balto behind when we left him in his new car and walked back toward the airplane, but we reassured him and he was happy to keep walking and get back into the airplane with us.  We then flew east to a little airport above Cameron Park, east of Sacramento, where Quincy began the final leg of his journey by car with another volunteer from the chow rescue who would soon place Quincy with his forever family.  We wished him well and thanked him for sharing his lovely spirit and great heart with us.

Our next passenger arrived about an hour later with a different rescue volunteer who had pulled him from death row at a shelter.  A large homeless young yellow lab in need of care and food and family.  "No name", the volunteer said.  So we decided to call him "Old Yeller."  So okay, he wasn't really old, but he sure was yellow.  His youthful spirit was all there, and he showed the classic sweetness of his breed.  Old Yeller eager jumped into the airplane, spent at least ten minutes analyzing the smells in every corner of the airplane, and then settled down as if he had been flying all of his life. Sometimes this work can be soooooo easy!  Even the weather had cooperated beautifully today.  

In less than seven hours of flying, we had completed a circuit comprising most of central California, and saved three canine lives.  Not bad for a day's giving!