Have you ever heard of puppies traveling in private jets? Well, this can be your first!
Canine Companionship for Independence (CCI) is a non-profit organization that provides incredibly trained and highly skillful assistance dogs to people who have disabilities with no charge at all. The organization trains Golden retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, and cross-breed of the two species and matches about 400 such dogs with people who need assistance each year.
For this specialized training of dogs to happen, CCI has to fly these puppies to the puppy trainers so they can acquire social skills along with basic skills. Each year they use commercial flights to send dogs to their trainers in different cities all across the country, but this year, the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible to happen.
This is where the CCI got creative. It got approached by private jet owners and private pilots from across Santa Rosa to step in and transport these special trainee pups to their trainers. These individuals and services heard about this situation and rushed in to help. Many people similar to the seventy-four-year-old Craig Ramsey who lent his plane to CCI so that a pilot could transport these young pups to their temporary abodes, and nevertheless, these people felt glad they took part in the effort.
Ever since these gracious people stepped in to contribute, a total of 189 CCI pups have been transported to their destinations. The project took a course of about 43 trips, and the puppies are now acquiring new skills to become service dogs.
CEO of CCI told an online magazine that they had only a few volunteer pilots before the private jet center came in and supported the cause. And obviously,
for these so well behaved furry passengers, the pilots could never be more eager to help.
Image source: Chris Kittredge Photography via People
