This is one unforgettable plane ride.
It's a plane full of adorable puppies on a mission of mercy.
They were just moments away from death before they got a plane ticket to freedom.
Brad Childs and Jonathan Plesset are licensed pilots and dog lovers. A couple of years ago they formed the Pittsburgh Aviation Animal Rescue Team. Their goal is to rescue dogs from kill shelters and dog fighting rings and fly them to safety.
Childs told INSIDE EDITION, "We are heading down to West Virginia to rescue 12 dogs."
Abandoned dogs hit epidemic proportions in Detroit.
The guys brought us along for one of their biggest missions yet -- picking up a dozen dogs from West Virginia and bringing them all the way to New York. These trips aren't cheap, and this one was paid for by a donation from fellow animal lover Rachael Ray.
After receiving the proper veterinary paperwork, the guys were ready to transport the pups.
Plesset explained, "These dogs are minutes away from death. If we didn’t rescue these dogs today, they might not have a tomorrow."
40 dogs missing in one small town.
At first, the puppies were the perfect passengers, until one of them did his business on Plesset's lap!
After the two hour flight, the dogs are taken off the plane in crates. Soon, they were headed to the North Shore Animal League, a no-kill shelter on Long Island, New York, where they're checked out by a vet, groomed, bathed and put in a dryer.
Childs held one pup and said, "We're going to find this girl a very loving home very soon. This is the exciting part."
It was a long trip, but these pups now have a new "leash" on life.
