Animal Rescue Team Founded by Upper St. Clair Firefigher, Cop Hosts Student Tour

Pilots and board members of the Pittsburgh Aviation Animal Rescue Team, created by Upper St. Clair volunteer firefighter Brad Childs and Upper St. Clair officer Robert McMaster, will provide an educational tour of the Allegheny County Airport and their hangar to a group of elementary students from Pittsburgh’s Roosevelt Elementary School on June 3. The trip will be the conclusion of a school fundraising event in the honor of the school’s late art teacher Kathryn Mueller, who loved animals. The school wanted to do something to honor Mrs. Mueller and Anne McMaster, PAART board member and teacher at Roosevelt, initiated a fundraising drive on May 13 to collect money to donate to PAART. Students were asked to bring in coins to support the drive and the classroom that collected the most money by May 24 won the field trip to the county airport. To kick off the event, students were given a presentation to teach them about the proper treatment of animals and what shelters and other organizations like PAART are doing to help. The money donated will be designated as “Mueller’s Missions” to help as many animals as possible and the students will be able to see pictures of the animals they saved. “The students have such big hearts that they want to give. When the collection was announced, they emptied their pockets,” said Anne McMaster.  PAART has transported hundreds of rescued animals to their new loving homes and work with national networks such as Pilots N Paws and Animal Rescue Flights to provide the service at no charge to either party. They also collect and distribute donated supplies and food to many shelters throughout the tri-state area and are pending their 501(c)3 status. Join Patch for more community news or join us on Facebook and Twitter.