A dog rescuer who served the Fayette County Animal Shelter lost his life in a plane crash while delivering three dogs from Maryland to Albany, NY. Two of the dogs lived, including one who dug a hole in the snow with broken legs to survive winter in the Catskills Mountains.
Animal rescuer pilot Seuk Kim, 49, wasn’t from around here, but he knew about Fayette County and our overpopulation of dogs. According to Fox5, Kim routinely rescued animals from the Southeast, flying them up to the Northeast for more likely adoptions as part of an organization called Pilots N Paws.
“It’s a huge loss. It’s a huge loss for our community,” Fayette County animal rescuer Cynthia Saracino told FOX 5.
The New York Times Reported that Seok hit turbulence and poor visibility, reporting them in while requesting an altitude change. Then he went off radar. That was Sunday. It took rescuers several hours to reach him through the snow. His plane had lost its wings. He had lost his life.
But according to 11Alive, two of his rescue dogs had made it, Whiskey, a labrador puppy mix with broken bones who dug for his safety, and Pluto, an 18-month old yorkie terrier mix with minor injuries.
A fundraiser has been set up to support Kim’s wife and three children, ages 16, 14 and 13. https://everloved.com/life-of/seuk-kim/donate/?flow=201
