Last week a plane with three people and 53 dogs on board crashed in a fairway at Western Lakes Golf Club in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. Everyone survived. “I’m glad we were there to help,” course Superintendent Mike Bindl said Wednesday, as he recalled hearing the crash and seeing the large plane on his golf course. He and his crew were on the scene in moments, and after ensuring that the people were OK and getting medical attention for their minor injuries, his attention turned to the dogs being evacuated from the plane. He spotted a shivering puppy as a rescuer got her off the plane. “I could see she was shaking. I don’t know if it was because of the plane crash. I mean, it was cold. We’re in the middle of a snowstorm. And I said, ‘Give her to me.’ So she gave her to me, I unzip my sweatshirt. I put her under my sweatshirt and zipped my sweatshirt back up,” Bindl said.She quickly fell asleep. Bindl continued helping coordinate the transportation of the other dogs to area shelters, all the while with the slumbering puppy inside his sweatshirt. “I just wanted to check on her, and she pushed up off my arm and gave me a kiss. And that was it,” he said. The bond was formed. His new pet almost literally fell into his lap.The pair returned Wednesday to the Humane Animal Welfare Society animal shelter in Waukesha. They were special guests as HAWS held an appreciation lunch, donated by Saz’s, for all the volunteers that day. “It was a scary day, and it could’ve had a worse ending. Regardless, we want to be here for them, thank them and really just show our appreciation,” said Saz’s Business Development Director Jaime Peterson. “We have had people walk in and say ‘where are the plane crash dogs?’ They’re seeking them out. And in truth, they do have kind of a neat origin story,” said Jennifer Smieja with HAWS. The shelter regularly coordinates these dog flights from southern states, with dozens of dogs that may be euthanized otherwise. The flight that crashed was headed to Waukesha’s airport when it went down. “It’s all about giving a second chance at life to these amazing pets,” Smieja said. “And, maybe for these plane crash-surviving pups, one might say it’s a third chance at life.” Only a few of the plane crash-surviving dogs remain to be adopted. The cause of the plane crash remains under investigation.
Last week a plane with three people and 53 dogs on board crashed in a fairway at Western Lakes Golf Club in Pewaukee, Wisconsin.
Everyone survived.
“I’m glad we were there to help,” course Superintendent Mike Bindl said Wednesday, as he recalled hearing the crash and seeing the large plane on his golf course.
He and his crew were on the scene in moments, and after ensuring that the people were OK and getting medical attention for their minor injuries, his attention turned to the dogs being evacuated from the plane.
He spotted a shivering puppy as a rescuer got her off the plane.
“I could see she was shaking. I don’t know if it was because of the plane crash. I mean, it was cold. We’re in the middle of a snowstorm. And I said, ‘Give her to me.’ So she gave her to me, I unzip my sweatshirt. I put her under my sweatshirt and zipped my sweatshirt back up,” Bindl said.
She quickly fell asleep. Bindl continued helping coordinate the transportation of the other dogs to area shelters, all the while with the slumbering puppy inside his sweatshirt.
“I just wanted to check on her, and she pushed up off my arm and gave me a kiss. And that was it,” he said.
The bond was formed. His new pet almost literally fell into his lap.
The pair returned Wednesday to the Humane Animal Welfare Society animal shelter in Waukesha. They were special guests as HAWS held an appreciation lunch, donated by Saz’s, for all the volunteers that day.
“It was a scary day, and it could’ve had a worse ending. Regardless, we want to be here for them, thank them and really just show our appreciation,” said Saz’s Business Development Director Jaime Peterson.
“We have had people walk in and say ‘where are the plane crash dogs?’ They’re seeking them out. And in truth, they do have kind of a neat origin story,” said Jennifer Smieja with HAWS.
The shelter regularly coordinates these dog flights from southern states, with dozens of dogs that may be euthanized otherwise. The flight that crashed was headed to Waukesha’s airport when it went down.
“It’s all about giving a second chance at life to these amazing pets,” Smieja said. “And, maybe for these plane crash-surviving pups, one might say it’s a third chance at life.”
Only a few of the plane crash-surviving dogs remain to be adopted.
The cause of the plane crash remains under investigation.
