Cloud Nine Rescue Flights

Mission and Facts About Us

Cloud Nine Rescue Flights aims to eliminate the euthanasia of pets in the United States and provide aid to animals worldwide. We do this by providing safe, fast, and cost-effective air transports of rescue pets, providing animal welfare-related transports to people who provide aid to animals in underserved areas, and by educating the public on the importance of spaying and neutering of pets. In doing so, we manage to not only attack the problem on the surface, but also at its roots.

Cloud Nine is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization that relies upon donations, grants and sponsorships to perform our life-saving transports.

We work closely with large, internationally known and small grassroots animal welfare organizations such as: 

• International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW),
• The ASPCA,
• The Humane Society of the United States,
• North Shore Animal League,
• Operation Pets Alive,
• Project Safe Pet,
• Encore Pets, and
• The Best Friends Animal Society.

Cloud Nine is a USDA approved animal carrier.

Our standard missions involve transporting healthy, adoptable pets out of the overcrowded kill shelters in southern states to no-kill shelters and rescues in the northern states.  A typical route for us is the Carolinas to New York or New Hampshire.

• Average transport distance:  700 nautical miles
• Average transport time:       5 hours

Why We Are Unique:

• Exclusive use of two all-weather aircraft with access to a third all-weather aircraft, with three dedicated pilots available at most any time.
• Ability to carry 5 times the number of animals (on average) compared to other aviation-based animal rescue transport organizations.
• Ability to fly coast-to-coast in one day.
• Ability to fly internationally.
• Cost-effective:  average per animal cost for transport is $167 (other aviation-based animal rescue transports cost up to 10 times that per animal)

Animals we transport:

No restriction on type of animal, although primarily we move dogs and cats as there are the most open homes for them.

We only transport healthy, adoptable animals that are spayed and neutered prior to adoption.

15-20 animals on average are transported on each flight.  The number depends upon size of the animals.

• 47 Chihuahua puppies were transported at once in one day from CA to NY in January, 2010
• 32 cats from Cozumel to Pennsylvania were also transported at once in one day in October 2010.

The animals ride in the cabin with the pilot, secured in animal carriers, so they are at safe, comfortable altitudes with proper climate control.

A requirement for transport is that the aircraft is full so that we maximize our donated funds and save as many lives as possible.

Our Aircraft:

Cessna 310: Twin-engine, 6 seat aircraft capable of carrying approximately 12 medium sized dogs at speeds up to 200 mph.

Piper Aztec: Twin-engine, 6 seat aircraft capable of carrying approximately 15 medium sized dogs at speeds up to 180 mph.

Piper Navajo: Twin-engine, eight-seat aircraft capable of carrying up to eight animal welfare professionals at speeds of up to 210 mph. Generously loaned to Cloud Nine by His Wings Aviation Ministries.

All aircraft are all-weather capable, meaning we can fly in rain, snow and clouds.

Cloud Nine has a perfect safety record.

Our three dedicated volunteer pilots have over 7500 hours of combined flight experience and hold Commercial and Airline Transport Pilot certifications from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Where We Fly:

Cloud Nine has done transports all across the United States, Mexico, and Canada.  We are capable of performing transports anywhere in the Caribbean and possibly beyond.