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RIVERSIDE COUNTY, California (WCBS) -- More than 60 dogs were flown to their forever homes on Friday, many of which came from a string of different hoarding cases in Riverside County.
In the span of a month, dozens of dogs were recovered from three separate incidents in the Coachella Valley, including an incident in Sky Valley where 50 different dogs were found on a property after the owner died.
As a result, Wings of Rescue, a nonprofit organization aimed at rescuing at risk shelter pets by flying them to places where they can receive better care, was contacted by the Hume Society of the Desert Foundation to save the impacted pups.
"The flight itself received funding from the Humane Society of the Desert and one of its volunteers worked with the county to make the transport happen in quick fashion," said a statement from the Riverside County Department of Animal Services.
Erin Gettis, the Animal Services Director says that the opportunity to promptly help when they were presented with three different hoarding cases — which account for about 80 dogs — was exciting.
"This is a fantastic example of how the community can help with this crisis," Gettis said. "These volunteers secured funding for the flight, started calling northern shelters to locate Idaho and Cache and through our past partnership with Outcome for Pets, we connected with Utah Humane."
Since the start of 2012, Wings of Rescue has helped to save more than 73,000 pets, flying a staggering 2.2 million miles to do so.
"Our success in transporting pets to new, available homes has everything to do with the dedication and perseverance of hard-working shelter partners on the ground," said Ric Browde, CEO of Wings of Rescue. "The Riverside County team, the staff at the Humane Society of the Desert, and a number of generous donors came together to save these pets under extraordinary conditions. We are honored to provide the transportation link in this incredible rescue."
While he wasn't the one directly flying the dogs to their new homes on Friday, Browde was still on hand to watch takeoff. Instead, volunteers Kale and Anji Garcia piloted the pressurized, temperature controlled plane to deliver the pets to shelters where demand is high and no local pets were to be displaced.
