Over 80,000 residents in Fort McMurray’s in Canada were forced to evacuate their homes due to a massive wildfire sweeping the area.
Unable to return to their homes, residents were unable to get any crates needed to transport their pets on the airplane, so West Jet and Canadian North airlines made an exception. They decided to make the evacuation process easier for these displaced residents by allowing them to fly with their pets in the cabin.
Pilot Keith Mann, who was responsible for flying about 6,000 people this week says,
“We’re all animal lovers here. We knew it was important for owners to re-connect with them,” he told thestar.com.
Because the policy didn’t make sense given the circumstances, Mann recalls, “I just said, ‘No, let’s do this.’ Everyone wanted to get out, so it didn’t matter.”
And for the most part, Mann describes it being pretty quiet while they were upon the air. “You could just tell everyone was happy to be out of camp and on their way,” he says.
But, one flight was a bit peculiar — it was like 101 Dalmations on a plane, except it involved “cats, dogs, rabbits and chinchillas . . . you name it,” Mann said.
Two dogs had to be stored in the bathroom for the safety of the rabbits and chinchillas, and there was a pooch family of five that were huddled together.
While Mann has piloted many flights in his career, he never thought he’d be flying an airplane of animals.
“It’s definitely one of those things you never imagine yourself doing,” Mann told thestar.com. “But I’m glad we did it.”
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[Featured Image Credit: Jen C.]
Airlines Break All The Rules So Pets Escaping Fires Can Fly With Their Owners is an article from: LifeDaily