TAILS Humane Society

Taking Animals Into Loving Shelter

2250 Barber Greene Rd.

DeKalb, IL 60115

Press Release

For Immediate Release       Contact: Lane Phalen

Amelia Earhart Lands in DeKalb

            No, it wasn’t the Amelia Earhart of history. This canine Amelia Earhart was a passenger along with her nine puppies plus two other pups. They landed at DeKalb’s Taylor Municipal Airport on March 1 bound for TAILS Humane Society.

            The pilot was Rob Hawkins with friend Erich Garner, who fly rescue missions via Pilots N Paws, a group of private airplane pilots who fly dogs and puppies otherwise doomed for euthanasia to shelters that can find homes for them.

            Amelia and her nine puppies are Redtick Coonhound mixes and the other two pups are border collie mixes. Amelia’s pups were just four-weeks old at the time of their flight and mom, Amelia, is approximately four-years of age. The border collie mix puppies were about eight-weeks old.

            On March 1, Hawkins and Garner’s mission was to rescue Amelia and her group from a shelter in southern Missouri that was about to close. Pets there were slated for euthanasia if they could not be rescued in time.

            A 30-year veteran pilot who has two greyhounds, Hawkins flew from his homebase in St. Louis to Poplar Bluff, Mo., to pick-up his precious cargo and then flew to DeKalb. The round-trip covered 714 nautical miles in one afternoon.

            “The dogs were pretty quiet on the trip,” Hawkins said. The dogs ride in the tail end of the plane behind the pilot and co-pilot. “I cover the carrier holding the dogs with blankets because it gets breezy in the tail. It also keeps it dark and the dogs snooze during the flight.”

            Hawkins saw a television special about Pilots N Paws and said, “We (he and his friend, Garner) need to do this because it gives more purpose to flying.”

            Shelters needing help post information on the Pilots N Paws website and pilots choose the routes where they can deliver dogs. At TAILS, Outreach Coordinator Sheron Turska read of the canines in Missouri and contacted the shelter to inform them that TAILS would accept the mother, her nine puppies and two other puppies.

            “Sometimes we run relays with other pilots,” Hawkins said. “Next week, we’ll fly to central Kansas with dogs and someone else will take them from us and fly the dogs to their final destination in Colorado.”

            Before Pilots N Paws was formed in 2005, the only option for transporting from shelter to shelter was by car, truck or van. Though this still routinely occurs, the trips tend to take more time and can therefore result in more stress for the animals involved. The Pilots N Paws program provides a faster alternative for moving animals from overcrowded conditions to shelters like TAILS, which are able to provide animals a second chance at adoption.

            Once Amelia Earhart and her pack landed in DeKalb, they were driven to TAILS by two volunteers. There, they were given a medical examination, vaccinated and dewormed. Then they were immediately transferred to foster homes where they would remain until old enough and healthy enough to be spayed/neutered and made available for adoption.

            These flying canines were named after famous pilots and aircrafts. Mom was named Amelia Earhart. Three of her four female pups were named Lady Lindy, Cessna and Larkin. The fourth was named Brave Bessie after Bessie Coleman, the first female African-American pilot to obtain her pilot’s license. The five males were named Stealth, Concord, Thunderbolt, Ranger and Hudner (a Navy aviator who received the Medal of Honor during the Korean War). The female border collie-mix puppy was named Piper and her brother was named Hawkins, for the pilot who rescued them.

            TAILS happily announces that Piper and Hawkins have been adopted, and Amelia and her pups are now available for adoption at TAILS. Before adoption, all cats and dogs are spayed or neutered, microchipped, receive up-to-date shots and are temperament tested by TAILS.

            These fortunate flying canines are the first group to be transported to TAILS via Pilots N Paws, but TAILS has transferred hundreds of puppies from overcrowded shelters in the south over the past four years. Most have been transported the old-fashioned route, through ground transportation. Asked if they would utilize the Pilots N Paws program again, Turska at TAILS said a quick, “Yes,” and pilot Hawkins said that he was anxious to fly dogs to DeKalb’s TAILS.

            When Hawkins arrived home in St. Louis, he emailed everyone involved and said, “We are tired after a long day of flying, but happy in the fact that we all came together to do something great!”

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