Humans and animals have lived side by side for centuries. Out of all the animals domesticated by man, the dog still has a special place in the hearts of people. Dogs are seen as companions, family members, co-workers, and life savers. Different breeds have been bred for different purposes but all were designed to live with humans.

Kirk Baur knows how intelligent dogs are. They can show emotion and can sense emotion in others. Dogs have been trained to be used in a number of vocations such as sniffing out drugs to providing therapy. As a society, we know how beneficial animals can be but that doesn’t stop hundreds to thousands of animals ending up in shelters each year.

After 25 years working with the United States Air Force as a Security Forces officer, Kirk Baur wanted to find a way he could continue to help. He found his volunteer calling with Animal Rescue Flights. What he found so remarkable about the organization was the willingness of other volunteer pilots to transfer animals from shelter to shelter to avoid euthanizing.

“Part of the job of the volunteer pilots is transporting animals from overcrowded shelters to shelters with the room to take them in. Without transporting the animals, they would be euthanized to avoid overcrowding. Volunteer pilots also transport animals from overcrowded shelters across the country to families waiting to adopt them,” says Kirk Baur

For the duration of Kirk Baur’s work with the organization, most of his flights have been between shelters. “I have performed numerous dog rescues,” says Kirk Baur. The majority being the movement of “animals from “kill” shelters in the south to “non-kill” shelters in the north.”

Kirk Baur is glad to have saved so many dogs but still regrets the number of dogs and animals left in shelters. He asks people to spay or neuter their pet in order to avoid unwanted breeding and prevent shelter overpopulation. “Some instances of overpopulation are unavoidable but if society takes the steps to avoid over-breeding, fewer animals will end up forgotten or unloved in county animal shelters,” says Kirk Baur.