HOPE HAS WINGS
Race for Life Rescue is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that provides air transportation for animals in life-threatening situations. Not only ensuring they survive, but thrive.
What We Do
To put it simply, we save lives. We rescue animals from overpopulated shelters, areas affected by natural disaster, and relocate those living in unhealthy environments to safe locations where they have a chance to begin a new life and find a loving home.
How We Do It
With a state-of-the-art airplane and team of dedicated pilots, we fly animals in the most gentle, safe, and secure conditions. We make every effort to minimize any stress or anxiety they might experience, because transporting animals by air ensures they reach a safe location as quickly as possible.
Where We Operate
While our headquarters is in Annapolis, MD, our plane resides in Nashville, TN – a prime midwest location that allows us to easily transport animals and fly rescue missions all over the United States, throughout the Caribbean and South America.
Our Mission
“At Race for Life Rescue, we believe every animal deserves a safe, healthy environment where they can flourish. Our goals are to reduce euthanasia by relocating animals to adoption centers that have a greater capacity for care and high adoption rates, provide lifesaving supplies and emergency evacuation for animals during natural disasters, and support underserved communities with the provisions and program needs necessary to their success.”
Jim DeFrancesco, Founder
Facts You Should Know
Nearly 7 million animals enter U.S. shelters each year and over 1 million of them are euthanized.
In 2024, there were 27 natural disasters in the U.S., resulting in losses of over $1B each.
83% of pet owners live in areas impacted by disaster.
There are 22 million pets living in underserved communities.
Race For Life Rescue Numbers
Flights
VOLUNTEERS
ANIMALS SAVED
STATES COVERED
*as well as Puerto Rico and the Bahamas
Be a Champion For The Animals
We’re asking everyone to consider a monthly gift to Race for Life Rescue. Monthly gifts are the best, most effective way for you to help us continue rescuing animals and ensuring they have long, happy lives.
The Sky Is Not The Limit
By building long-lasting, trusted relationships with our partners, we’re able to maximize our missions and expand our rescue territory. If you think we could provide an impact in your mission to save animals and support communities, we want to hear from you!
Featured Flights & Mission Highlights
At 4 pounds and 9 weeks old, Roxie boarded our rescue plane in Louisiana, riding in a crate with her littermates. ✈️🐾
More than 60 dogs and cats were on that flight, all heading north to a better chance at finding a family. Their mom was gone, and a vet tech bottle-fed the litter so they could survive.
Roxie’s family found her online, and it was love at first sight. Now her days look like warm sunshine naps, sticks, and pontoon rides at the lake in Wisconsin. ☀️
Roxie’s flight was made possible by @bissellpetfoundation and @cathybissell. 💛
Did your pet fly with us? Send us a Pupdate! Tell us their name and where they landed, and we can feature them next. 🐾
#RaceForLifeRescue #Pupdate #RescueDogsOfInstagram #RescueFlight #AdoptDontShop
At 4 pounds and 9 weeks old, Roxie boarded our rescue plane in Louisiana. 🐾✈️
Her family found her online, and it was love at first sight. Now her days are sun naps, sticks and pontoon rides up north. ☀️
Did your pet fly with us? Send us a Pupdate! Tell us their name and where they landed, and we may feature them next. 💛
#RaceForLifeRescue #Pupdate #RescueDogs #LakeDog #HappyEndings
86 passengers, and most of them were babies. 🍼✈️
On October 24, we flew 53 dogs and 33 cats from 17 Louisiana shelters to rescue partners in Minnesota. 59 of them weren`t even a year old yet. 🐱
Swipe to meet the litters: a Lion King pride, the Marauders (Prongs, Padfoot, Wormtail and Moony), a casino-night crew, a running-shoe litter, and Dolly, Hank and Waylon. Plus a dog named Mutt Damon and a cat named Will Ferrell. 🎬
Huge thanks to @bissellpets for making this flight possible, and to our Louisiana shelter partners. 💛
Which litter would you join? 👇
#RaceForLifeRescue #HopeHasWings #RescueFlight #AdoptDontShop #RescueKittens #RescuePuppies #AnimalRescue #Aviation
Meet Lil Bo Peep 🐾 Little dog. BIG ears. Big trip.
She was one of 64 dogs and cats on our October 22 rescue flight from Louisiana to New York. ✈️
It was a big load over a long distance, with a headwind the whole way. A headwind slows the plane and burns more fuel, so our crew planned and tracked every gallon to land with the reserve fuel pilots are required to carry. Safe flights are careful flights.
Swipe to meet more passengers, including the denim litter: Denim Skirt, Double Denim and Jorts. 👖
Huge thanks to @bissellpets for making this flight possible, and to the 12 Louisiana shelters who trusted us with their animals. 💛
Which name is your favorite? 👇
#RaceForLifeRescue #HopeHasWings #RescueFlight #aviation #AdoptDontShop #RescueDogs #RescueCats #AnimalRescue
200 rescue flights! ✈️🐾
On October 14, our plane flew its 200th mission, carrying 112 dogs and cats from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Manchester, New Hampshire, toward new beginnings.
Swipe to see some of the best pet names on the manifest. . ☕🍂
None of this happens without you. Through the end of 2026, every gift to Race for Life Rescue is matched by our founder, Jim DeFrancesco, so every dollar becomes two. Help fuel the next 200 flights. Link in bio. 💛 https://raceforliferescue.org/?give=M8D6XZDR
(Photos: past passengers.)
#RaceForLifeRescue #HopeHasWings #RescueFlight #AnimalRescue #AdoptDontShop #RescueCats #AvGeek #DonationMatch
We love to keep our Race for Life Rescue family up to date on the latest news, rescue adventures and upcoming milestones, so as we approach some new and exciting achievements we thought who better to share them than our Executive Director, Bianca Smith!
This is our wizard behind the curtain, turning the wheel, spinning alllll the plates and keeping us all doing what we love - saving lives.
We hope this is the first of many candid convos from Bianca, as we continue to work with our partners to provide animals with second chances and the healthy, happy, fresh starts they deserve. 🩵 ✈️ 🐾
#animalrescue #rescue #airtransport #adopt #milestone
FLIGHT #2 on our epic rescue weekend! 🐶🐱 51 dogs, cats and kittens, met us in Georgia this morning, thanks to @bissellpets and @cathy_bissell ❤️
Our second flight returned to Minnesota, where amazing shelter teams were waiting to welcome these sweet souls.
Today, 23 dogs and 28 cats will have beautiful, bright futures…bringing our weekend rescue total to 111 ANIMALS SAVED! ✈️🐾🩵
It’s an EPIC RESCUE WEEKEND! 🎉🐶🐱 Thanks to @bissellpets and @cathy_bissell OVER 100 animals are flying with us from Georgia to Minnesota on a life saving journey! 🐾🩵🩷
Here are some of the 60 adorable, and ADOPTABLE, animals we had the pleasure of having as passengers today! ☺️
Tomorrow…we’ll be right back in Georgia for flight #2…stay tuned! ✈️
Flying Saves More Lives
We never lose sight of what’s at stake if we don’t complete our mission. We aim to safely transport as many cats and dogs as we can from overcrowded shelters to new adoption partners across the US.
Our Partners
We've Also Worked With...
Get On Board Now
Race For Life Rescue intends to become one the largest animal air transport programs in the country. We are building a passionate team of pilots and animal advocates to increase our animal rescue operation and conduct multiple rescue missions each week.
We need your help. Every donation, each partnership, and all our volunteers are vital in helping us achieve our goal of providing thousands of animals with a new life, in a loving home.