The Wellington Aero Club, Furry Friends Adoption, Clinic & Ranch, and Avastar Fuel System hosted a Wounded Warriors event on Friday, March 9. The groups came together to help three veterans and their dogs complete the flight training part of the service animal certification process.
After being contacted by Furry Friends and Ron Weaver of Avastar, John Herring, a board member of the Wellington Aero Club, volunteered his plane, time and piloting services to veterans Matthew Kleemann, Jeffrey Davis and Eli Chastain, their dogs and trainer Mike Lorraine.
Herring took the veterans and their dogs for a 20-minute flight from Wellington to the Everglades, while Lorraine ensured that the dogs were able to calmly and safely fly with their owners.
The event was held in accordance with a new requirement of the certification process for service dogs. In order to prepare dogs for all possible scenarios, it is now necessary to train them to be responsive and calm while flying on planes with their owners.
