20 Korean Dogs from Wenju, South Korea made the final leg of their 7000 mile journey from Danger to Safety thanks to multiple missions from the No Dog Left Behind Team. On Jan 27th Landpilots Scott and Chris Everitt made the trip from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., along with a simultaneous second trip by Lisa Lamm and Dessie Conaway, to meet up with Humane Society International at the Dulles Airport to load 14 animals in the Landplane for their final journey to multiple shelters in the Ohio, Maryland and Western PA. These animals, having never had human contact, faced the saddest of situations as they were kept on a meat farm that processes these animals for slaughter and eventual human consumption. No Dog Left Behind Has been making multiple trips a week to get these animals to their new lives here in the United States. On Feb 2nd we sent Paula Zetter and Chris Everitt back down for 6 more animals.
These missions have been both uplifting for the team and heartbreaking. All of these dogs face a tough road ahead. Since none of them ever had any contact with humans they don’t behave like you would expect. All of our Landpilots shared the same sense of emotion when describing to us the condition of these animals. When a group of 9 arrived last week we opened the door to the Landplane and it was dead silent. It was something we had never seen before. Usually the animals are excited and happy, these ones were just expressionless. The pain they must have been through is beyond comprehension. Each one had the same blank stare. How could people do something like this to innocent animals that have been domesticated for thousands of years. These poor souls were not meant to be treated like this.
The entire team at No Dog Left Behind would like to thank Human Society International for asking us to play a part in this rescue. These kinds of missions are the reason we were founded. To give hope to the hopeless, to be a voice for them and to give them the last push they need to go from Danger to Safety. We are all incredibly humbled and thankful for not only HSI, but for the smaller private shelters who now pick up the mantle and get these animals rehabilitated so they can find their furever home. Some of them have already been adopted. Their turn-around has been incredible to witness. Its exciting to think that so many people are out these willing to go that extra mile and live by our code… No Dog Left Behind
Lastly we need to give a huge amount of praise to our Landpilots. These missions were often 14 to 18 hour runs. The team would wake up at 4am and not get home again till 2am the next day. The sacrifice and dedication of these volunteers is second to none. A lot of people talk about helping but very few go to the same lengths our volunteers do when called into action. All of this would not be possible without a ton of activity behind the scenes. We would like to recognize our Director of Operations Lynda Manko who has spent countless hours on the phone, writing emails, and coordinating with a ton of people each day for these missions. Without her behind the scenes magic this could not happen. Thank you everyone…you continue to amaze and inspire us.
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