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Late Sunday evening at a rural airfield in Virginia, 16 anxious passengers were disembarking from a flight that was waiting for them, even if it saved their lives.
Some looked surprised, some wary, some excited as they were flown to Culpeper Regional Airport in a small private plane. They were then taken to a meadow for a potty break and fresh air before catching a connecting flight.
Three cats and 13 dogs — including a skinny, shy pitbull mix named Jenny and her seven puppies — were part of a complex weekly airlift operated by a far-flung, loose-knit group of volunteer pilots and animal lovers. For a few years, they have been bringing pets from places with heavy South Animal shelter to foster and rescue groups in the far north.
But this day was special: volunteers repatriated 117 animals, almost twice as many as usual, to commemorate the anniversary of the tragedy that changed the group: member Seuk kimFatal accident on a rescue flight on November 24, 2024.
“Everyone really feels it,” said co-founder Sydney Galley. ceo of the group now called Seuk ArmyBut, she said, “He would be very excited to see us with so many dogs,”
dedication of a pilot
49-year-old Kim had fulfilled her childhood dream of learning to fly and after working in the financial sector for decades, she wanted to make a career in it.
The humans in Springfield, Virginia loved animals, too. So after connecting with Galley and others through an animal rescue discussion board called Pilot N Paws, he got involved — Kim made several animal flights a week and recruited other pilots. He also brought batteries, diapers and other items to people in need after Hurricane Helene last year.
On his last day, Kim left Culpeper with four dogs, drove one to a Maryland airport, then drove to Albany with the rest, new york,
His 1986 Mooney M20J aircraft crashed in New York’s Catskill Mountains after being reported hit by turbulence. Kim and one dog died in the crash, but the other two survived and were adopted.
‘I don’t think I can do this anymore’
“I don’t think I can do this anymore,” Carissa Gregory, who coordinates flights with Galley, told other volunteers after Kim’s death.
But one of the pilots, Kelly Parkhurst, reminded him that aviators assess and accept the risks of flying. He thinks of Kim whenever he flies animals and dips the wings of his plane as a tribute if he passes the crash site. Still, Parkhurst, which also runs charity medical flights, had no problem continuing animal transport.
“I just want to continue the legacy that we started together,” Parkhurst said recently.
How Seuk’s army regrouped and grew
While Kim’s family and friends mourned, news coverage garnered attention, with new volunteers and more partners from grassroots nonprofits coordinating largely through WhatsApp chats and Facebook posts.
A year later, Seuk’s force now transports two to three times as many animals as before, Gregory said.
Pilots use their own aircraft and pay flight fees, which cost hundreds of dollars per hour. Galley, her husband and co-founder pilot Jerry Stephens and other volunteers have largely covered veterinary bills, supplies and other needs.
But the Piedmont, South Carolina-based group has begun taking organizational and fundraising steps, including a 5K charity run last June at the group’s ad-hoc hub, Culpeper Airport. Airport manager Tanya Woodward says a local grant writer is looking for potential donors to fund a dedicated outdoor area for the animals.
In a country where shelters and rescue organizations take in millions of cats and dogs annually, and hundreds of thousands are euthanized for reasons such as lack of space, rescue flights open up new foster possibilities for agencies like Heard County Animal Control Center in Franklin, Georgia. With its 20 kennels always full and sometimes double the number of animals, the center works with Seuk’s Army to transport up to eight pets per week across the country, said director Kylie Putzek.
Heard County doesn’t euthanize animals these days because of overcrowding, but “it wouldn’t be the same story” without rescue flights, she said.
Rescue flights are a logical feat
Volunteers wore T-shirts bearing Kim’s photo as they unloaded, walked, played with, cleaned and reloaded dozens of animals that came through Culpeper on memorial flights last month.
Stephens and others had flown in creatures from South Carolina, Georgia, and other Southern locations. Other pilots would take them to northeastern airports, in a logistical puzzle that ultimately spanned some 16 airfields, seven planes, several cars and vans, and quick adaptation to weather forecasts. Gregory watches them more keenly after Kim’s death.
As departure time approached, leashed dogs waited on the street in a loose line with varying degrees of uneasiness, like a crowd at an airport boarding gate.
There was Daisy, a 96-pound hunting dog whose owner died, and Copper, a beautiful hunting dog who was surrendered in the middle of a divorce. Middie was released to Georgia because she was pregnant. Jenny, the pit mix, and her 8-week-old puppy were facing euthanasia at an Alabama shelter, Gregory said.
Puppies get a bird’s eye view
Seventy-five hundred feet (2,300 m) above the mid-Atlantic countryside, co-pilot Michael Nuzbach spun in his seat.
“Hello, puppies. Come say hello!” She said, opening a crate and helping Jenny take out one of the puppies.
Another spent a while in the front with Nuzbach and pilot Stephan Noor. The volunteer pilots were flying a turboprop plane owned by Pilots to the Rescue, a decade-old charity that periodically collaborates with Seuk’s forces. Founder Michael Schneider said he appreciates the group’s work, and “has no shortage of animals to save”.
The pups, who were more interested in the pilots’ laps than the view of the Chesapeake Bay, were hidden back in their crates before nightfall on the eastern seaboard.
They and dozens of other animals aboard flew silently past the lights of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and New York’s Kennedy Airport, flew into the darkness of Long Island Sound and landed at Groton-New London Airport in Connecticut. This was the final destination for Jenny, her puppies, and a few others; The rest were flying to New Jersey.
In the small, bright Connecticut terminal, volunteers from local rescue groups cradled puppies before heading to foster homes on the humid New England night.
“They’re all going to people’s houses,” said volunteer Danielle Barth. “A warm home.”
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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits is supported through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.