A group of animal lovers became internet and real-life heroes after posting a video of them aboard a small plane crammed with 27 puppies during a rescue mission to prevent the dogs from being euthanized.
Cassandra Bergeron and her friends had recorded the rescue during their 45-minute flight from the shelter in Enterprise, Alabama, to Orlando on September 29.
The TikTok video, which has since garnered 13.4 million views and 2.9 million likes, captured the puppies happily wagging their tongues and cuddling with their human saviors.
She and the other women made the rescue in July after Bergeron was asked by a pilot friend, who is in training, to help get the dogs from the shelter.
Many Southern states have been forced to euthanize animals in shelters because of overcrowding.
The women contacted Michael Young, a University of Central Florida professor and pilot, who has saved more than 7,000 dogs as part of Alabama Puppy Rescue Flights.
Bergeron said that the puppies were excited to see the women after they landed and played with them until it was time to board again.
The women made sure not to pack or bring anything that took up too much space in order to fit all the puppies.
Bergeron’s video captured several of the puppies cuddling in her arms while the others were jumping on her friends in the back of the plane.
She captioned the video ‘Guess how many puppies we rescued?’ as her and her friends were delighted to be in the puppy-filled aircraft.
The dogs were handed over to Florida rescue volunteers, who took the tiny creatures to Orlando-area shelters. They have all been adopted, according to Newsweek, since the rescue mission.
About 44,000 users commented on the heartwarming viral video.
