87 animals rescued from Hurricane Ida in search of their furry home in Minot

A plane carrying more than 150 passengers is not unusual, but something the sky might not see as often as passengers covered in fur.

Wings of Rescue is a non-profit organization that provides rescue mission plane flights for at-risk animals that are in overcrowded shelters or disaster areas.

Their 77th Rescue Mission of the Year brought them to Minot.

After collecting about 150 cats and dogs from shelters in Mississippi and Louisiana, they took half of them to Wisconsin, then landed in Minot with the rest.

This trip is their third rescue mission to the states affected by Hurricane Ida.

Rick Browde is the president and CEO of Wings of Rescue and he says rescue missions save the lives of countless animals.

“The shelters are very full after a natural disaster as people whose homes have been destroyed and especially during this COVID time. They don’t allow pets into human shelters, so they have to make room for pets in shelters that survived the hurricane, ”Browde said.

Browde says shelters sometimes euthanize animals already in the shelter to make room for the new ones.

“It never gets old to know that a pet was in danger of being euthanized is now saved thanks to our flights,” said Browde. “It’s the sheer joy of why I’ve been doing this for eight years.”

They have saved more than 6,000 pets this year and hope to save another 3,000 by the end of the year.

Southern animals are now in the care of the Souris Valley Animal Shelter.

The executive director of the shelter says she is happy the animals are in North Dakota.

“To be selected by Wings of Rescue and Best Friends to help save 87 animals is quite an honor,” Waters said. “They trust our community, they trust our shelter, and that’s a big deal.”

Over 60% of the 87 animals rescued have already been adopted and the rest will go to foster homes. Waters says they have tried to accommodate as many special needs and risky animals as possible.

“No one was shooting cats, the elderly, or animals with special needs,” Waters said. “We have two dogs in wheelchairs on this flight, we have a three-legged pitbull that goes all the way to Bismarck. It was a priority, I mean the animals needed help the most and we had the capacity to help, so we did.

The Souris Valley Animal Shelter has been renovated and the $ 3.5 million facility will be ready for the animals in October.

If you would like to donate to Wings of Rescue, click on this link.

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