Father-son duo take to skies to rescue homeless pets
The message came Thursday night. Pilots Mike Hickman and his son, James Hickman, were needed to make a “semi-emergency” flight to Oklahoma to help rescue two blind dogs, a senior canine and four puppies.
The Longmont father and son have been volunteering for Pilots N Paws, a nonprofit seeking to help over whelmed “kill shelters” transport pets to rescues where they can be adopted, instead of potentially being euthanized. The nonprofit, which is based in South Carolina, connects pilots with a network of shelters. Pilots like Mike and James Hickman fly to where they’re needed and bring the animals back to rescues in Colorado.
“It’s incredible,” James Hickman said. “It amazes me how many good dogs and cats are out there.”
His dad said:
“They all need wonderful homes and it’s exciting to facilitate that.”
Mike Hickman is a commercial airline
pilot, whose work hours have been reduced due to the coronavirus pandemic. His son, James Hickman, has a pilot’s license and he has been working to obtain an airline transpor t pilot’s license, which requires 1,500 hours of flying. With the use of the family’s 1997 Glastar airplane, the father and son duo have channeled their love for animals and flying to rescue homeless pets.
Also contributing is wife and mom Kerri Hickman. As soon as Mike and James Hickman touch down at Vance Brand Airpor t, she is waiting with food, water and some loving scratches for the pets. The rescues or sometimes adopters arrive at the airpor t to take the animals to their next destination.
“Fortunately there are a lot of people with big hearts that are willing to rescue them and get them to places where people will adopt them out,” Kerri Hickman said.
Kerri Hickman, who is also a volunteer at the Longmont Humane Society, said the family shares a love of animals and has four rescue dogs of their own, including Jack. The senior dog is a Schnoodle, a 50% poodle and Schnauzer. He was among those saved through Pilots N Paws. The “star passenger” gazed out a plane window during the flight, winning the hear ts of the Hickman family.
It’s a bird, it’s a plane
The dogs in need of rescue were among the animals recovered from an Oklahoma man’s home, after health issues made it so he could no longer care for them, according to Mike Hickman. To help, James and Mike Hickman began the roughly 2 Kh flight to Woodward, Okla., on Friday. Once in Colorado, Mike Hickman said, a rescue shelter would be taking in the animals.
Mike and James Hickman have been assisting in the rescues with Pilots N Paws since May, helping to save dogs and cats from shelters in Oklahoma and Texas.
James Hickman has put in roughly 300 hours of fly time through the effort. Before Friday’s flight, the father and son had rescued just over 100 animals. Once in Colorado, the pets go to animal rescues including Up Pup and Away in Denver; Mountain Pet Rescue in Thornton; Big Bones Canine Rescue in Windsor; Havok’s Wolfpack in Boulder and Colorado Pug Rescue in Gunnison.
A relief for rescues
Tigran Manukyan, the founder of Havok’s Wolfpack, has been working with Pilots N Paws since late last year. The Boulder resident has operated the rescue off and on since 2015 to help dogs from out of state shelters find homes.
“Basically, the biggest hurdle is transport,” Manukyan said. “It’s significantly problematic when you’re tr ying to work with a shelter that is most in need and then you have no ability to get their dogs out of that shelter and into Colorado, adoption wise. Colorado tends to be a center of adoptions, regardless of location.”
Pilots N Paws, Manukyan said, has helped to close that gap.
In Canyon, Texas, Brenda Walsh ser ves as a rescue and transport coordinator with Friends of Texas Panhandle Shelter Pets. Since 2019, Walsh has used Pilots N Paws to coordinate flights for animals in overcrowded “kill shelters” in the Texas panhandle. She said she sends the animals to rescues in Colorado, Nebraska and Wisconsin.
“There are a lot of good dogs in shelters,” Walsh said. “A lot of people in the south look at them like they’re disposable. They’re good dogs, they just end up as strays.”
Last year, Walsh helped to coordinate roughly 500 rescues.
In the Hickman’s plane, there’s space for the animals to ride behind two front seats. The plane can hold up to 250 pounds of furry passengers, so the father and son base how many animals they can take on weight and available space.
The animals are tethered to a seat belt that’s hooked to their collar. Sometimes the animals do have to be crated, but Mike Hickman noted that this takes up more room, further limiting how many pets they can rescue at one time.
Mike Hickman said most of the animals don’t seem too stressed during the travel, though, occasionally they’ve had to make a puppy pit stop.
“They usually create a monster puppy pile and fall asleep,” Mike Hickman said.
During a Nov. 17 rescue involving 15 puppies from Woodward, Okla., the father and son had to land in Satanta, Kan., to bathe the animals in an airpor t bathroom, when things got a little messy on board.
“That was quite the gaggle,” Mike Hickman said. “We call that the ‘Satanta Incident.'”
Volunteers needed
Mike and James Hickman have several other trips planned in the week ahead, but said they will depend on the weather.
The family encouraged anyone looking for a volunteer opportunity to get connected with Pilots N Paws. The nonprofit is always searching for pilots as well as volunteers on the ground that can assist in rescue operations. People can sign up or donate on the nonprofit’s website at: pilotsnpaws.org.
Up in the air, as they near their destination, Mike Hickman swears he sees a reaction from their passengers.
“I see them smile as we cross the Colorado border,” he said. “Pilots are always looking for an excuse to get into the air and fly this is a wonderful one, where it’s a win-win for all.”