Pilot Flies An Old Dog To It's Last Home And Changes Her Life

Noone knew that flying this dog to a foster home would entire changing the dog, and the pilots, lives.

Mikayla

• Published in Animals
• April 8, 2018

Meet Ashlyn, an old dog who was living at a shelter in North Carolina. While waiting patiently to find a loving home Ashlyn was taking a beating from severe illnesses and lost a lot of weight. She was fighting Sarcomas - cancerous tumors under the skin - and it looked like she might only have a few weeks to live.

When people from the New England Humane Society heard about Ashlyn they found someone who could take her into their home so that she could spend her last few weeks in comfort, they just couldn't get her there. That's when Paul Steklenski, the founder of Flying Fur Animal Rescue stepped up to the plate and offered to fly her to her new home in his plane. 

As Steklenski flew the plane and watched Ashlyn sitting beside him, he began to get emotional thinking about the fact that this ride might be the last ride the little pup ever goes on. Steklenski is used to flying dogs to their new homes, he usually flies around 15-20 dogs every month, but it's the older ones like Ashlyn that really tug at his emotions.

"Those are the ones where you focus even more on what they're going through," Steklenski said in an interview.

At the start of the flight Aslyn was a bit nervous, and a little hesitant around Steklenski. But from his experience with flying dogs, he knew that giving out some dog biscuits would quickly lighten the mood.

"She started off a little bit distant," Steklenski said. "Then she would kind of open up a bit, and she got closer." ... "Then she gave me one paw and then the other,"

Look at her adorable little face!

"Then she laid her head on my lap," He said "To me, that’s huge. That’s all that matters. That’s the reward in itself."

Steklenski decided to take up flying as a hobby in 2013, which was around the same time that he also adopted a dog. At first, the two things had nothing in common, but soon that all changed.

“We went to pet stores and then we went to shelters and started to learn the difference,” Steklenski said in an interview last year. And once he realized how many animals in need there were in shelters it was time to put his new hobby to good use.

If it weren't for him many dogs like Ashlyn would still be in the shelters, but instead, they have loving homes. And since she's been in her new home Ashlyn has improved more than anyone had thought possible!

Ashlyn in her new home!

"When I picked her up from the airport, her condition destroyed me," Said Tracy Lander. Tracy has three dogs of her own and has been fostering for the NEHS for two years. "She was down to 39 pounds — her ideal weight is between 65 and 70. She came to me with a sweater on — when I took it off, I could see every rib."

Lander started feeding Ashlyn three times a day so that she would put on weight and then started adding supplements to help with all her medical problems.

She's doing really well!

And it wasn't long before Ashlyn started to perk up again. "She’s getting around more," Lander said. "She’s a great eater ... and she’s very attached to me."

She's even started to make friends with Lander's other dogs. She snuggles up with Angel for naps, and even Xander, Lander's boxer-mix has taken an interest in their new furry housemate. 

"He’ll go up to Ashlyn and just start licking her," Lander said. "He thinks he can heal everybody with his tongue."

Ashlyn came to live with the Lander's in January with not much expected of her time left. However she's still chugging along months later in April, and the family has come to love her. She's no longer a "fospice" (Foster+Hospice care) dog to them, but a precious soul who reminds them to cherish every day that you are gifted.

"She knows she’s loved," Lander said. "Whatever happens she knows she’s loved."

The day that Ashlyn boarded Steklenski's plane no one knew what was going to come of her, and no one could have imagined the huge improvements that she has made in the last few months. And the reward of seeing her be a part of a loving family is exactly why the pilot does was he does.

"I would never have imagined finding something so satisfying, so rewarding, that it would eclipse most all else of my time on this Earth," Steklenski says.

Mikayla