Celebrating 10 Years of The Sato Project
When The Sato Project was founded in 2011, our work began by rescuing one dog at a time from Dead Dog Beach. 10 Years later we have flown and vetted over 6,000 dogs from the streets and beaches of Puerto Rico to loving homes on the mainland. We have also spay/neutered and vaccinated over 7,500 animals and distributed 136K lbs of disaster relief supplies across the island in the wake of Puerto Rico's multiple natural disasters. None of these accomplishments would have been possible without the support of our #satostrong community. Read this special edition 10th Anniversary Program Report for The Sato Project's full story.
When The Sato Project was founded in 2011, our work began by rescuing one dog at a time from Dead Dog Beach. 10 Years later we have flown and vetted over 6,000 dogs from the streets and beaches of Puerto Rico to loving homes on the mainland. We have also spay/neutered and vaccinated over 7,500 animals and distributed 136K lbs of disaster relief supplies across the island in the wake of Puerto Rico's multiple natural disasters. None of these accomplishments would have been possible without the support of our #satostrong community. Read this special edition 10th Anniversary Program Report for The Sato Project's full story.
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FREEDOM FLIGHTS
Once a sato completes all of their vetting protocols, they are ready for
the next big step in their journey: to fly off the island!
IN 10 YEARS, THE SATO PROJECT HAS FLOWN
3,100 DOGS AND CATS ACROSS 39 PRIVATELY
CHARTERED AIRPLANES AND FLOWN NEARLY
3,000 DOGS ON COMMERCIAL AIRLINES.
Photo by @NYCPetPhotographer
We are often asked, “Why can’t you find homes for dogs in
Puerto Rico?” The harsh reality is that there are simply too
many dogs who need homes and not enough people who
want to adopt them. The biggest illustration of this is that all
the municipal shelters in Puerto Rico continue to sustain a
94% euthanasia rate. Due to the earthquake crisis beginning
in 2020, some shelters are now nearing a rate of 99%.
Just like rescuing, Freedom Flights began with one dog at a
time flying on an American Airlines commercial flight direct
to NYC. Once there, our New York volunteers would meet
them at JFK Airport. Gradually, one dog became two, then
three, then 20 and more.
In September of 2012, we were in the middle of preparing
30 dogs to take their Freedom Flight (the largest number
we had ever flown at once up to that point), when we
decided to give this large group a special name of its own:
‘Mission Possible.’
As mentioned previously, Muhammad Ali is a personal
hero to our Founder, Chrissy Beckles. During her own time
training and fighting as a boxer, Ali’s quote, “Impossible
is nothing” was her personal mantra. When she began
rescuing dogs, this mantra continued to provide inspiration
and strength while working to make a difference in a
situation that often felt impossible.
In the very beginning of The Sato Project, it had felt
impossible for us to ever imagine flying 30 dogs at once.
And yet, here we were only one year later. From that
Freedom Flight onward, we decided to name every large or
particularly triumphant Freedom Flight a ‘Mission Possible’
as well. Gradually, these missions have gotten bigger and
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