“Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing”.
- Muhammad Ali
Our Mission
The Sato Project is dedicated to rescuing abused and abandoned dogs from Puerto Rico. There are currently an estimated 650,000 stray dogs roaming the island’s streets and beaches. With no access to food, fresh water, or veterinary care, many of these dogs are living daily lives of severe suffering. The municipal shelter system is drastically overwhelmed, with only five shelters across all 78 of the island’s municipalities. These shelters have a combined euthanasia rate of over 94%. For thousands of stray and abandoned dogs in the area in which we operate, we are their only hope.
What We Do
The Sato Project is determined to end this suffering. Our small but mighty team works around the clock to save as many lives as possible. We address the underlying causes of and solutions for Puerto Rico’s stray dog crisis through seven primary programs:
The Sato Project primarily works in the municipality of Yabucoa, on the southeastern coast of the island, which has been rated the poorest of all 78 Puerto Rican municipalities. The median household income is well below the national average and over half of its population lives below the federal poverty line. Yabucoa is also where Hurricane Maria first made landfall in 2017 and caused the most severe devastation.
Since our founding, we have concentrated our rescue efforts on a place known as Dead Dog Beach, a notorious dumping ground for abused and abandoned dogs. Our Founder and President, Chrissy Beckles, started rescuing one dog at a time from this beach until she officially founded The Sato Project in 2011. Thanks to over 12 years of our rescue and community outreach work, Dead Dog Beach has been almost entirely cleared of dogs, allowing us to expand our efforts into the wider Yabucoa community and diversify our programs to address the underlying causes of the island’s stray dog epidemic. Since 2011, we have rescued more than 7,150 dogs from the streets and beaches of Puerto Rico and flown them to new lives on the mainland. We have also spayed/neutered and vaccinated more than 8,000 dogs and cats through our spay/neuter community outreach programs.
Puerto Rico has gone through a lot of challenges since 2011, including:
Deadly Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Irma in 2017
Political unrest in 2019
Devastating earthquakes at the beginning of 2020
COVID-19 pandemic 2020 and ongoing
and destructive Hurricane Fiona in 2022
The Sato Project continues to evolve our efforts to meet the needs of ever-changing circumstances. However, through it all, our primary goal has always stayed the same: to save as many lives as possible and end Puerto Rico’s stray dog crisis once and for all.
The Sato Project is making permanent change in Puerto Rico. We encourage you to join us. Learn more about our life-saving efforts by clicking on any of our program links above or watching this video below produced by CNN in 2015.