“Canine Companions for Independence” provides trained service dogs to people with disabilities. They are a nonprofit organization.
The organization depends on commercial airlines to bring their puppies to their new homes. With the coronavirus halting all commercial flights, they had to find another way.
Luckily, they were able to find people who are willing to give their precious time and effort to help. They found three pilots who volunteered to fly out their puppies.
They have successfully brought 108 puppies already. They have been to California, Washington, Oregon and even Texas.
The organization was astounded by the volunteer pilot’s generosity. They flew out using their own resources for free.
They have never flown dogs before. It was the first time for them to have these precious cargos.
The owner of the Jet Center, Hochberg, shared that their daughters would play with the dogs to tire them out. Once it’s time to get on the plane, the dogs sleep during the ride.
They felt a sense of fulfillment in this act of kindness that they took one of the puppies for their own. Not long after, they decided to have another member of their family, an American Brittany, who they called Charlie.
Their pilots fly out to the West Coast so their challenge now is finding pilots that have big enough capacity to fly out east.
The puppies are all bred at the Santa Rosa headquarters of Canine Companion. They have Labrador and golden retrievers. The two mixes are bred for their calm temperament.
As puppies, they are placed in temporary homes. This is where they get their training.
The volunteers will teach the puppies to socialize and teach them command words. At a year and a half in age, they will then be given professional training.
Canine Companion will not and can’t be stopped. They want to be able to bring dogs all across the US. They know they have a mission to help those who are in need of service dogs.
Source: Instagram
