Dog Is My CoPilot Visits The Columbia River Gorge

Contributed Photo. Dog is My CoPilot at Columbia Gorge Regional Airport October 20th, 2020

Yesterday, Dog is My CoPilot paid an unexpected visit to Columbia Gorge Regional Airport in Dallesport when weather and logistics rerouted them from their usual stop in Troutdale. Dog is My CoPilot is a non-profit organization dedicated to the safe transport of at risk animals in overcrowded shelters at no cost. The plane landed at about 2:00 PM and departed by 3:00 PM. Dog is My CoPilot founder and president Peter Rork M.D. piloted the plane. 

“Yesterday we coordinated a transport from the El Paso Animal Services Services up to Portland, with stops in Salt Lake City and Sun Valley.” However because of some weather issues in the Portland area and timing they had to find someplace else to land.

“We didn’t want to be traveling through the mountains after dark with a single-engine aircraft. And we figured we’d already flown 8 hours to get there, so landing in Dallesport was a good trade-off,” said the pilot Peter Rork, M.D.

“Everyone at Columbia Gorge Regional Airport was incredibly helpful. The FBO really facilitated the feeling of servicing the aircraft and even a couple of people who were sitting at the airport came and helped us unload the animals. There was a real feel-good feeling there, they really stood out to me” said Rork.

Onboard were 80 shelter animals from El Paso Animal Services, including 78 dogs and 2 cats. All of which have been checked by a veterinarian and have written health certificates and required vaccines before traveling. Of the animal passengers aboard the plane, 22 dogs were received by One Tail at a Time Dog Rescue PDX and the others went to their new homes at The Pixie Project, Animal Aid PDX, FurFriends Animal Rescue, and Oregon Dog Rescue. “These are awesome partnerships between these organizations. We’re all the way from Wyoming to Texas to Oregon, so we’re far apart but there’s a lot of togetherness here. We’re all working together to help animals,” said Kara Pollard Executive Director of Dog Is My Copilot. 

The animals that Dog is My CoPilot works with come from shelters where overcrowding is a serious problem that leads to animals being euthanized. “If you’re taking in 100 dogs a day and adopting out 50-you run into problems. A lot of these shelters don’t want to use euthanasia to deal with this problem, but without access to partnerships and transportation services like ours-they run out of options,” said Rork.

Many of the animals on board already have foster homes waiting for them. “A lot of time the animals go into foster homes right away, many already have adopters waiting for them,” 

Contributed Photo: Helping unload the precious cargo at Columbia Gorge Regional Airport

Contributed Photo. Columbia Gorge Regional Airport October 20th, 2020

Pollard continued saying that animal welfare is their passion, “We work with a variety of shelters. Usually municipal. The goal is to get these animals out of overcrowded shelters where there are not enough adopters and into our destination partner's care, where they are often adopted or put into foster homes straight away. Some need to be spayed and neutered, which our receiving partners take care of,” said Pollard.

“We do 10 flights a month on average. This year we will have provided close to 55 rescue flights which is a big milestone for us,” said Pollard, in previous years Dog is My CoPilot flew between 30-35 flights. “We’re projecting we’ll do 70 flights in 2021,” continued Pollard. “This year so far we’ve flown 694 dogs and cats. Dog is my Copilot has transported almost 17,000 animals since our founding in 2012.”

Each flight takes about a day, “It’s basically a day’s flight, sometimes we’ll be dropping off at three or four different airports. But it only takes about 7 hours. It’s much more efficient than driving these animals over long distances which puts a lot of additional stress on the animals. Our goal is to make it as safe and stress-free for them as possible,” said Pollard. 

“The flight we did yesterday from El Paso would have been a 22-hour road trip. When you transport the animals they usually go into crates and then onto a van. Well, there are too many animals to get potty breaks and so the drivers would have to drive non-stop as well. And that’s not good for anyone. We offer these shelters a faster, more efficient, and free transportation option that would otherwise be impossible for them to access because of most of them. Most of them already have enough financial problems as it is,” said Rork.

The organization, which is based in Jackson Wyoming usually flies to the South Western United States such as Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Southern California, first to pick up the animals and then transports them to their receiving partners in the North-Western region. “We have receiving partners are in Oregon, Washington, Utah, and Wyoming,” said Pollard. Dog is My CoPilot transports the animals at no cost to shelters thanks to sponsorships and pilots who donate their time. 

Rork added that “We’re thinking about going national and expanding into a second location in Atlanta so that we can cover all the Southern States.” 

Rork said that although landing in Dallesport was a change of pace for them, “What we have is a very well oiled machine. Our partners know you can’t be late to pick up animals at the airport, especially say on a hot summer day. We fly the same routes over and over again. We have strong collaborative relationships with our partners. The real heroes are those who are working in these shelters every day.”

Dog is My CoPilot was winding down their flying season for winter but Rork encouraged others to continue aiding in animal welfare. “It’s a matter of educating people on what the problem is. There are a lot of things people can do to address this issue. They can certainly adopt and don’t shop. Or they can foster an animal and help get that animal ready for adoption. Or if you live somewhere where you can’t have pets you can certainly volunteer at a shelter and if you can’t do that- you can always donate. There are lots of ways to help.”

Rork added “Every animal you save, saves two. The one you save and the one that gets to take its place. Get off the sidelines, be a part of the solution. We can make this problem go away.”