We have more than 70 dogs at SOS Chapala DOG Rescue, and at least 40 more waiting to get in. We can’t build new kennels fast enough.
Meanwhile, the U.S. northwest has few dogs, but many individuals and families longing to adopt one. It’s a basic challenge of supply and demand. If we can just get travelers who are flying from Guadalajara to Seattle anyway to agree to shepherd our dogs north with them, to be “flight angels,” everyone will win, especially the hapless, lovable dogs.
Why don’t people rush to sign up to be flight angels? It was such a flippant question for me to ask until I finally reminded myself that I had a long lost brother who lives in Seattle whom I’d never visited. Why didn’t I become a flight angel? After all, I volunteered with these dogs. I knew how wonderful and deserving they were, how long some of them had waited to find their forever families. I had no excuse. Gulp! I reluctantly agreed.
Barbara, our lead volunteer, veteran flight angel, and coordinator for north-of-the-border adoptions, reviewed the logistics with me, and assured me everything would be easy. SOS would take care of all the preparations, arranging to ship four larger dogs in carriers beneath the plane, while I took a puppy in a small carrier with me in the cabin.
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