More than 70 dogs left Norman Animal Welfare on Aug. 13, bound for new homes across the country aboard a flight that marked a national milestone: the 50,000th animal transported by nonprofit Dog Is My CoPilot since its founding in 2012.

Peter Rork, a retired orthopedic surgeon and longtime pilot who founded the Jackson Hole, Wyoming-based organization, flew the animals himself.

The flight connected Norman's overcrowded shelter with rescue partners in communities where demand for adoptable pets outpaces supply.

"They get a golden ticket, every animal gets their golden ticket," Rork told Central Oregon Daily on Aug. 14, when the same flight delivered dogs and cats to Bend, Oregon. "They're all perfect animals, I have three at home to prove that point."

Dog Is My CoPilot transports dogs and cats from shelters in California, Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma to adoption partners elsewhere in the country. The organization now moves roughly 1,000 animals per month, according to Twin & Turbine magazine. More than 600,000 shelter animals are euthanized in the United States each year, according to Shelter Animals Count.

Norman Animal Welfare, a department of the City of Norman, was a direct partner in the milestone flight. The Norman Transcript reported that the dogs were headed for rescues and new homes, though specific receiving organizations beyond Street Dog Hero in Bend were not named.

Rork started the nonprofit with a small personal aircraft, carrying eight to 12 animals at a time. After four years and about 1,000 rescues annually, he acquired a larger plane for the organization.

The partnership between Norman Animal Welfare and Dog Is My CoPilot is ongoing. Residents interested in volunteering, fostering or learning about future flights can visit dogcopilot.org.