Request A Rescue
Michael Schneider
Founder & Executive Director, Pilots To The Rescue
In 2015, Michael Schneider founded Pilots To The Rescue, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to transporting at-risk animals from overcrowded shelters to rescue organizations where they have a stronger chance of getting adopted.
The organization has completed nearly 400 rescue missions and saved more than 6,730 animals (see current mission stats here) since 2015. Pilots To The Rescue has also transported numerous endangered species to safer locations, including wolves, foxes, and sea turtles.
Early Life and Love of Flying
I’ve always loved animals. My family would go to the SPCA in Westchester, New York to adopt cats and dogs. I had a pet sitting business when I was 11 and also rescued and rehabilitated injured birds.
Later in life, a spontaneous decision to go skydiving in 2011 sparked Michael’s interest in aviation. After a few skydives, he signed up for flying lessons and in 2013 at the age of 37, he earned his pilot’s license.
Always an animal advocate, when Michael learned about a group of puppies abandoned in a ditch in North Carolina who were scheduled for euthanasia simply because their shelter was too overcrowded, he took action. Without hesitation, Michael and a fellow pilot took off in a private plane to save the puppies. That single flight revealed his mission in life, and in 2015, Pilots To The Rescue took flight.
Building a Mission
For the next five years, Michael ran Pilots To The Rescue as a labor of love alongside his corporate career as an events manager. It wasn't until the COVID-19 pandemic that Michael decided to leave his corporate career behind and follow his dreams of focusing on the nonprofit full-time.
I'd been looking for a sense of purpose and fulfillment for a very long time. It only took COVID-19 and 45 years to realize what I wanted to do when I grew up.
The organization relies on 13 volunteer pilots to fly missions out of Caldwell Airport in Essex County, NJ where “Big Paw” and “Little Paw” are hangared. To ensure no animal is left behind when weather grounds the planes, Pilots To The Rescue operates a fleet of transport vans stationed at the airport with an additional van in Dallas, Greenville and plans underway to expand ground operations to Florida and Indianapolis in mid-2026.
Big Paw & Little Paw: Taking the Mission Higher
The first plane utilized by Pilots To The Rescue was a 1976 Piper Lance, a reliable workhorse aircraft that carried the organization through nearly a decade of missions out of Essex County Airport (KCDW) in Fairfield, NJ. As the organization grew, Michael secured donor funding to purchase a used 2013 Daher Kodiak 100 turboprop, affectionately nicknamed, “Big Paw.”
The move to the Kodiak 100 in October 2024 enabled Pilots To The Rescue to fly nearly twice as many animals per mission compared to their previous aircraft, with the ability to stack crates and carry additional passengers to assist with the transport.
In 2025, rock legend Tom Scholz, the founder and lead guitarist of the iconic rock band Boston donated his single-engine 1980 Beechcraft Bonanza A36. As a licensed pilot, Schloz had flown the plane while on tour, logging 700,000 miles.
Now known as “Little Paw,” the Bonanza is used for missions requiring smaller, more economical aircraft, since larger planes like the Kodiak 100 are more expensive to operate and have massive cabins in comparison.
The organization is on track to secure funding to add a third transport plane to the fleet by the end of 2026.
Flying to Save Lives.
For Michael Schneider, every rescue mission is proof that one person's purpose, when matched with the right skills and the right people, can change the world one animal at a time.
We’re not just saving animals… we’re improving people’s lives… I hear from adopters who say their pet helped them through grief, loneliness, or depression. That kind of connection is powerful. It reminds me why I started the organization.
What began with a single flight to North Carolina to save a handful of puppies has grown into one of the most impactful animal rescue aviation organizations in the country. With a growing fleet, an expanding ground operation, and a network of volunteers united by a shared love of animals, Pilots To The Rescue shows no signs of slowing down. As long as there are animals in need, Michael and his team will be ready to fly.
Michael lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn with his wife, four boys, and Sydney, his 90-pound rescue dog.