Flying for happiness

Pilot takes to the air to save lives of dogs

Provided

Pat Waters of Low Country Golden Retriever Rescue, holds a puppy he rescued from a high kill shelter in Wilkesboro.

Three hundred miles to Wilkesboro, N.C., $500 in fuel and a few hours time is nothing to Pat Waters if it means the happiness of a golden retriever.

Waters, a volunteer pilot for Low Country Golden Retriever Rescue, flew to North Carolina recently to save the lives of three mixed golden retriever puppies who were dumped at a high-kill animal shelter.

Waters, of Mount Pleasant, makes about two such flights of about five made by the rescue each year to save dogs that are too far to drive to.

"Once you get one of those dogs it makes you so happy. It costs $500, but that little money I spent will bring a lot more happiness to people who adopt the dogs than they could buy with $500," Waters said.

The rescue set up specifically to care for golden retrievers brings in about 100 to 115 dogs each year, said Linda Rogerson, the rescue's president.

Once retrieved, the dogs receive all the veterinarian care they need and are kept by foster parents until a suitable owner wants to adopt them.

The rescue established itself in Charleston in 1991. The group primarily takes dogs from South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina and has four local pilots willing to fly.

"Whenever Linda gets a call, we race to get the dog," Waters said. "Who knows what will happen if we don't."

Most often dogs are picked up in the usual way, by car. But when a plane trip is necessary, pilots volunteer their time and pay for the fuel which is sold at a discount by Mount Pleasant Regional Airport for rescue flights.

Waters got involved in the rescue after he and his wife lost a golden retriever and adopted another through Rogerson.

"We realized at the time that we had the chance to give back a little," Waters said.