APOPKA, Fla. – A plane with more than a dozen rescued dogs landed Saturday afternoon at the Apopka Airport.
Organizers said the pups will be given the lives they deserve and the veterinary care they've lacked.
Poodle and Pooch Rescue unloaded the pups from a small plane. All 18 of them were seated freely in the back with no crates.
"Some pilots say, 'What, you don't crate the dogs on the airplane? That's crazy.' Well, I had 18 dogs today. Last flight two weeks ago I had 22," said dog rescue pilot Mike Young.
Before the flight, all the dogs are taken on walks and volunteers help keep them calm.
Young said he's already done 190 flights, saving nearly 900 dogs.
"They have so much love to give, and I'm going to do the best I can to save as many as I can," Young said.
The dogs were relinquished by a backyard breeder. It's a cause volunteers hold close to their hearts.
"They're going to fine, wonderful homes. They'll be vetted and they'll get everything that they need," said one volunteer.
"This backyard breeder did the kindest thing she could do for these dogs, which is stop breeding them, get them out of their life of neglect and confinement," said Michelle Wacker, director of Poodle Pooch Rescue.
All the dogs will be taken to Chuluota Veterinary Hospital, where they will later be placed in foster homes and find permanent owners.