Avery the cat with Southwest Airlines’ Captain Matthew Prebish – credit, Southwest Airlines/Stephen Keller

On October 12th, a Southwest Airlines pilot fell in love with a little kitten named Avery while transporting him and 150 other shelter animals out of the path of hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Partnering with a charity and an animal rescue, the plan was to take the dogs and cats to Milwaukee from Florence, South Carolina, where they could continue their goal of finding homes for them.

However, Avery couldn’t wait ’till landing, and managed to latch onto Captain Prebis before he made it to Milwaukee.

“It was love at 30,000 feet. I don’t think Captain Matt was expecting to adopt a hurricane evacuee from Tennessee when he agreed to fly this amazingly special flight, but some things are meant to be,” Lucky Dog Animal Rescue CEO Mirah A. Horowitz said in a statement to PEOPLE.

“Avery the kitten is definitely a Lucky Cat and was right at home with his new dad in the cockpit once we landed and parked.”

The over 150 cats and dogs had been in the care of animal shelters in eastern Tennessee and Florida prior to the two hurricanes. To secure their safety and ensure the impacted organizations could serve the needs of their communities, the shelter pets were transferred to Lucky Dog Animal Rescue’s Rescue Campus in Florence.

credit – Greater Good Charities/Ray Aguilar

Once in Florence, the animals then boarded the emergency flight, done pro bono by Southwest, in partnership with Greater Good Charities to Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport in Wisconsin.

Earlier in the week, Greater Good Charities delivered humanitarian aid, including shampoo, hygiene products, and emergency packs filled with mylar blankets, socks, laundry sheets, and more for displaced and impacted families in Asheville, NC, and surrounding communities. These emergency packs were included in 6,000 pounds of aid items flown via Southwest Cargo free of charge.

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According to news releases from both the nonprofit and Southwest Airlines, the animals were transported to various shelters around the state and are ready to be adopted.

They can be found at Wisconsin’s Humane Animal Welfare Society, Elmbrook Humane Society, The Washington County Humane Society, the Humane Society of Jefferson County, the Dane County Humane Society, Eau Claire Community Humane Association, Green County Humane Society, and Illinois’ One Tail at a Time, among others.

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“We are truly grateful to Southwest Airlines for making this flight possible because it gives breathing room to shelters dealing with unprecedented numbers of animals displaced by the storm who need care until they can be reunited with their owners,” Horowitz added.

SHARE The Pawesome Collaboration That Made This Important Evacuation Possible…

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