RFT 458: Dog Is My Copilot Founder Dr. Peter Rork

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Every day over 2,000 healthy dogs and cats are euthanized in our nations shelters— the result of too many animals and too few homes. We are working to reduce euthanasia rates by transporting animals from places with overcrowded shelters to adoption centers in other geographic regions where loving families are waiting to adopt them.

DIMC flies as many animals as possible in a single flight to maximize efficiency. DIMC does not charge our partners organizations for our transport services. As opposed to long-distance ground transportation or the red tape of commercial flights, transporting animals via private aircraft is efficient and affordable — just $64 per animal, per flight. But resources are always in demand and DIMC looks to the public to keep flying.

Since its founding, DIMC has grown from saving a few hundred lives a year to more than 2,500 annually. DIMC’s success is due also to its dedicated team of organizers and contributors.

Peter, “The Pilot”, is an East Coast refugee, who always believed that he was switched at birth with a kid from New Jersey. After working his way through medical school as a pilot, he practiced Orthopedic Surgery for more than thirty years. Instead of retiring to a golf course, he has returned to the skies as our Chief Pilot. Peter holds an Airline Transport Pilot rating and is qualified to fly single and multiengine aircraft as well as seaplanes. He is also a certified flight instructor. Transporting animals to forever homes in a Cessna Turbo Cessna 206 Stationair and Cessna Grand Caravan, he says that the view from his new office beats any other.