PAART has a small fleet of airplanes and an animal transport vehicle that we rely upon to assist in rescues. Typically, we can fit around 300 pounds of weight in each plane and up to 70 animals in our rescue vehicle. When we analyze a potential rescue the first thing we are looking to determine is if it is within our range, weight limit, and animal capacity. Animals must be kept inside of a USDA approved during transport. An average dog weighs around 40 pounds and their crate is usually around 10 pounds. This means that we have the ability to transport 6 dogs with their crates at a time in an airplane. The rescue vehicles can carry up to 70 animals depending on the size and crate configuration. Our typical air rescue is between 4 and 8 dogs at a time. The typical vehicle transport is around 50 animals. When requesting a rescue please keep these numbers in mind. Please determine the weight of the dogs and their crates before contacting us.

Our air fleet is made up of single engine airplanes. On average we can fly at around 180mph. On each air mission we do not allow our pilots to fly more than 250nm on any given leg of a trip. We are very sensitive to pilot fatigue and put the safety of our pilots first and foremost. In the event that the distance you are looking to request is longer than our range we ask that you arrange ground transportation to make up the difference. The rescue vehicle can travel up to 1200 miles round trip depending on the load. For trips over 700 miles on one leg we require our drivers to stop overnight.

Aviation can be tricky. Unlike airlines who fly at high attitude to get over the clouds and weather our pilots are always forced to take weather into account when making the decision to fly. Once the rescue has been arranged the mission is handed off to our pilots. Typically the morning of the flight our pilots will review the weather and make the final decision. If the conditions put the mission at risk the pilot will call off the rescue. Weather is not always the deciding factor. When doing a pre-inspection on the plane the pilot may find a mechanical issue with the plane that prevents them from safely operating the aircraft. In this case the pilot may determine that it is not safe to proceed. When requesting a rescue we ask that you always have a backup plan in place for transportation if timing is critical.

Since we are not relying on air factors for land missions our flexibility is greatly improved. The land team can transport in almost any weather condition. In order for us to initiate a land mission we must have a minimum of 25 animals in the vehicle. For land missions into congested cities we ask the receiving shelter to meet the team outside of the city. This ensure a timely an efficient transport for our drivers.

PAART is a 501(c)(3) charity. We only do rescues for other 501(c)(3) organizations. When we receive a rescue request we verify the organization we are flying for and make sure the animals are going to either an approved shelter or to a rescue that has already arranged to house or transfer the animal. PAART is not a shelter. We do not have the resources to temporarily house the animals. PAART does not transport for private individuals seeking to transport their pets. Each rescue or shelter we transport for investigated by our staff prior to transport. If you are not in good standing we will not transport for you.

The request form is the first mandatory piece of information we need. This paperwork serves as a record of the transport and is used by our team to evaluate the mission. The second, and most important paperwork we need, are the health certificates and vet reports on the animals we are transporting. When our team arrives we will inspect this paperwork and make sure that each animal we transport is listed on this certificate. The health certificate is required by law for any animal being transported. This paperwork is audited by the USDA and the Dog Warden. If the health certificates do not match the rescue log we will not be able to transport.