HURRICANE MARIA
The eye of Hurricane Maria made landfall on September 20, 2017 in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, the epicenter of The Sato Project's rescue efforts. Three years later, the crisis is far from over. The power grid remains extremely unstable, outages are still a weekly occurrence and an estimated 20,000 island residents are still living under FEMA-distributed blue tarps instead of roofs. Then 2020 brought even more disasters: earthquakes, additional storms, drought, and a pandemic. As conditions fail to improve, many residents are still deserting the island for the mainland. The numbers of abandoned dogs and unwanted litters of more animals being born and suffering in the streets are still rising.
However, if there is anything Hurricane Maria taught us, it is that we must be prepared for anything. And now, preparing for and responding to disasters has become a part of our daily reality. Thanks to the support of our generous community, The Sato Project has been able to step up and evolve our efforts to meet these constantly changing circumstances and continue to make an impact for animals and people of Puerto Rico.
Click here to learn more about our response to Hurricane Maria
EMERGENCY AID DISTRIBUTION
In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, we recognized that we were in a unique position to provide additional support to the island. Disaster relief supplies for both humans and animals was desperately needed and every airplane we chartered for a transport to fly dogs off the island meant that an airplane was first flying in – and they were flying in empty. Starting in the Fall of 2017, we started a new effort with our partners, Wings of Rescue and Greater Good Charities, to never have an airplane fly in empty. Now all planes that fly onto the island for one of our Freedom Flights arrive packed with both humanitarian and animal relief supplies: human and pet food, bottled water, diapers, pet supplies, and more. Since these efforts began, The Sato Project has helped distribute over 130,000 lbs of disaster relief supplies across the island.
NO DOG LEFT BEHIND
In the wake of Hurricane Maria’s devastation, thousands of families started evacuating Puerto Rico for the mainland. Many were unable or could not afford to arrange passage for their pets. Our ‘No Dog Left Behind’ was created to reunite dogs with their families on the mainland who had to evacuate the island after a natural disaster. If a struggling pet owner is able to hold onto their dog instead of abandoning it in the streets or taking it to a shelter (where it will most likely get euthanized) it is better for the dog, the family, and the island. It prevents yet one more dog from ending up in the streets and helps a family keep their beloved pet. Since the start of this program we have reunited over 200 dogs and cats with their families on the mainland.
EVACUATING DOGS FROM EARTHQUAKE-IMPACTED SHELTERS
In the first two months of 2020, more than 2,000 earthquakes rocked Puerto Rico, including a deadly 6.4 on January 7th. The entire island was once again plunged into crisis mode. The constant shaking caused devastating damage and displaced thousands of people, especially in the southeastern corner of the island. Because of this crisis, dogs and cats started flooding into already severely overburdened animal shelters.
The Sato Project team immediately mobilized our energy and resources to save as many lives as possible. Within five days of the first major earthquake, we organized an emergency evacuation flight of 116 dogs and cats directly from the struggling shelters in the center of the earthquake crisis to welcoming shelters on the East Coast. Two weeks later, we organized another flight of 140 animals. As the earthquakes continue, our efforts to relieve shelters in the south have become an ongoing part of our rescue efforts.
Click here to learn more about The Sato Project’s response to Puerto Rico’s earthquake crisis.
COVID-19 PET FOOD PANTRIES
In the midst of so many ongoing disasters, The Sato Project team recognizes that another way we can combat the rising street dog population is through initiatives that help families in distress care for and remain with their pets. This was part of the inspiration behind expanding our spay/neuter outreach efforts and the inspiration behind our ‘No Dog Left Behind’ program. In 2020, we added another program to this list. With so many people laid off from work due to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders during 2020, there were many pet owners across Puerto Rico struggling to afford to feed their pets, even more so than usual. Thanks to several large donations of pet food from our friends at Greater Good Charities, our team was able to hold free pet food pantries in low-income communities throughout the year. Through these efforts we have distributed 28,000 lbs of dog and cat food directly to hungry pets in need during the pandemic.
