Mission Possible 13 is a mission accomplished.
231 rescued dogs and cats from Puerto Rico have officially started their new lives!
On Thursday, May 20th, the first flight took off from San Juan airport in Puerto Rico and transported 131 dogs and cats to Fort Lauderdale, FL. Then on Saturday, May 22nd, a second flight from San Juan took off with another 100 dogs. After stopping briefly in Florida to refuel, the plane continued to White Plains, NY, where our New York team was waiting. Upon arrival, each dog was welcomed by a new adoptive family, foster home, or a trusted shelter partner.
Thank you so much to all of our generous donors who helped make this double-plane mission a reality. We could not have done it without you. We would also like to say a special thank you to our match donors, including Tracy and Andy Warren, Tyler and Kara Ackerman, The Rosemont Foundation.
Please see the photo galleries below to see all your donations hard at work .
Gallery #1 is our team on ground in Puerto Rico. They had to load TWO airplanes in 24 hours.
Gallery #2 is of our team in New York. They unloaded the second airplane and welcomed each sato to their new life.
Gallery #3 is of satos meeting their new families directly at the airport.
Honoring Julie Elphinstone
Julie Elphinstone was a sato adopter and a core member of our volunteer team who helped process adoption applications. Julie adopted her sato Emmy from us in 2017 and wanted to help more dogs, so we put her to work. Tragically in 2020 we learned Julie had cancer. We were devastated to hear that Julie passed on December 31, 2020. Julie had a huge soft spot in her heart for senior dogs and had always wanted to be at the receiving end of one of our Freedom Flights. As soon as we realized that this Freedom Flight would include over 50 senior dogs, our team wanted to dedicate it to Julie’s memory. We were honored to put her name on the side of the plane and know that our our sato treasures had their very own guardian angel watching over them. Julie’s family and friends even attended the arrival in New York and it was an honor for us to share with them first-hand the life-saving efforts that Julie helped make possible.
