Giving Back: FlyPups

Squire’s devotion and friendship inspired pilot and CFII Kiener to found FlyPups Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that uses general aviation aircraft to relocate dogs in danger of being euthanized. Volunteers fly these endangered dogs from kill shelters to homes where they’ll be protected until they can be adopted.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals estimates that 3.3 million dogs enter shelters every year. Although 1.6 million dogs are adopted each year, 670,000 are euthanized. The mission of FlyPups is to ensure every dog finds a loving home.

For Kiener, it started in 2011 when a friend asked him to fly five dogs to a shelter. He said he couldn’t carry five dogs, as he owned a Cessna 150 Aerobat. Assured that they were puppies, Kiener accepted the mission and says it was, “a pivotal moment, a day when you know your life just changed.”

Kiener returned from the flight with one of the puppies for himself, a new mission, and a momentous realization: He needed a bigger aircraft.

“That flight opened my eyes to how many dogs were being destroyed,” said Kiener. “I say ‘destroyed,’ not ‘euthanized’—that’s a term for dogs that are sick. These animals can be saved by moving them from overcrowded shelters to non-kill shelters and foster homes.”

Kiener named his new puppy Piper and, in 2012, he purchased a 1996 Piper Saratoga. With the rear seats removed, the Saratoga can carry dozens of dogs. “The record on one flight was 40, but they were small dogs and puppies,” said Kiener.

Kiener and FlyPups volunteers operate from his hangar at Sky Manor Airport in Pittstown, New Jersey. During the past five years, Kiener and volunteer pilots have transported about 1,000 dogs.

Airplanes greatly decrease the travel time, sometimes from days to hours. Many dogs, often previously abused, are in fragile health and a short flight is better than a long drive.

“Generally, they go to sleep by the time I get to cruising altitude,” said Kiener. “I once transported 24 Chihuahuas and 23 slept while one yapped the whole way.”

When a natural disaster strikes, the need becomes even more urgent as shelters are overwhelmed with lost or abandoned animals. In August, when Hurricane Harvey struck Texas and Louisiana, shelters were overwhelmed by the influx of dogs and quickly became overcrowded.

FlyPups is also involved with transporting dogs to aid military veterans. To date, FlyPups has completed a “handful of service dog deliveries, but that’s changing as we’ve partnered with a great organization, ‘Train a Dog, Save a Warrior’,” said Kiener. “Flying dogs to veterans is something we’re committed to. If a veteran needs a dog, he gets a dog.”

Web: www.flypups.org