Dear Sato Supporter,

An island of 3 million people once again completely without electricity and thousands losing everything they own to a natural disaster: this has definitely not been a great start to the new year for Puerto Rico. But my team and I are safe and and we are already mobilizing to fly 115 dogs and cats out of the most devastated area of the island this weekend.

While we are all quite shaken (literally) from last week's earthquakes and from the continuing aftershocks, we remain #satostrong and determined to fight back against whatever is thrown our way. Keep reading below to learn how you can help. Thank you for keeping Puerto Rico and our 500,000 stray dogs in your thoughts.

In gratitude,

-- Chrissy Beckles, President & Founder



Photo by Ricardo Aguengo/AFP via Getty Images.

On January 7th, only one week into the new year, Puerto Rico was once again plunged into crisis mode. After a series of smaller earthquakes that had been ongoing since Christmas, the island was jarred awake last Tuesday morning with the largest earthquake to shake the island in over 100 years. This deadly 6.4 earthquake caused devastating damage on the southwestern coast. Only three hours later, we had another 6.0. And in the following days, we have experienced hundreds more, including a 5.4 and another 6.0. The aftershocks are still ongoing. Since the beginning of 2020, the U.S. Geological Survey has now recorded more than 950 earthquakes and aftershocks in Puerto Rico, with more than 500 of them being a magnitude of 2 or higher. 

We are relieved to tell you that our team in Puerto Rico and the dogs currently under our care are all safe. All of our houses and veterinary clinics are still standing strong and electricity and running water finally returned (mostly) after being without for several days.

Other parts of the island, however, namely the areas of Ponce, Guanica, and Yauco on the southwestern coast, have not been as lucky. More than 4,000 displaced people have lost their homes and are staying in temporary shelters. Thousands more are sleeping outside in their yards, parking lots, or other public spaces, afraid to return to their homes should another earthquake collapse their house on top of them. All schools across the island have closed until further notice. As human life across the island becomes more and more disrupted, the suffering of thousands of animals is exacerbated as well.

There are only two municipal shelters serving the entire southwestern coast of the island: in Ponce and Mayaguez. The shelter in Ponce has been closed for all intake since Christmas. Villa Michelle in Mayaguez experienced structural damage but remains open. They are both at their bursting point. As thousands of families in the area are now in crisis, without homes or adequate resources to survive, many of them are sadly surrendering their pets. Every shelter on the island is

overburdened (Puerto Rico’s municipal shelter system maintains a 96% euthanasia rate). This latest crisis is pushing them to their absolute limits, and knowing that animals are being euthanized because of lack of space is truly heartbreaking.

Our #satostrong team in Puerto Rico is determined to help. We have mobilized to save as many lives as possible while also doing everything we can to help pets stay with their families. 

This weekend, along with our amazing partners Wings of Rescue and GreaterGood.org , we are flying an airplane filled with water and other humanitarian supplies into Puerto Rico. After unloading the supplies, we will immediately load the plane with 115 dogs and cats from these overburdened shelters and independent rescuers. The animals will then fly to Humane Society of Broward County in Florida , Brandywine SPCA in Pennsylvania and St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Centers in New Jersey. Once off the island, all of these animals will be able to have a future they would not otherwise have if they remained in Puerto Rico.

Additionally we have re-opened our ‘No Dog Left Behind’ program - a program we launched after Hurricane Maria, which reunited over 200 dogs with their families after they had to flee the island. 

Last week's earthquakes are causing many families to surrender their pets into an already severely over-burdened shelter system. Our team on the ground in Puerto Rico is currently mobilizing to fly 125 dogs and cats out of the most devastated area this weekend. Photo of last month's Freedom Flight by @keepingfinn.

We would like to thank everyone who has reached out to check on our team's safety during this very scary beginning of 2020 and asked how they could help. Below are a few ways that you can support our immediate relief efforts in the earthquakes' aftermath.

Thank you for continuing to keep Puerto Rico, our 500,000 stray dogs and 3 million US citizens in your thoughts. This is not exactly the new year we were envisioning. But, please know that it brings us great comfort knowing that we have you, our community, in our corner helping us stay as #satostrong has possible.

You can also stay updated on our efforts by following us on social media, where we are providing daily updates from the ground in Puerto Rico as often as possible: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.

Through all the earthquake chaos, our team is still rescuing. We found a box of seven puppies abandoned on Dead Dog Beach last week, right after the island experienced two large earthquakes within twelve hours. They were all infested with fleas and ticks, and their bellies were distended from parasites. But their tails were still wagging and they knew we were there to help them. Now safe in our care, please meet ’The Quakers’: Magnitude (Magnus for short), Rattle, Shaker, Seismic, Quake, Tremble and Tremor.

"We fight so the dogs of Puerto Rico don't have to."