Dear Sato Supporter,

My team and I are hard at work in Puerto Rico, as usual. We are continuing to rescue as many dogs as we can in Yabucoa and are already thinking ahead on how to best prepare for the hurricane season that is quickly approaching. And our transport team in NY is busy welcoming our new arrivals on their Freedom Flights every week.

The situation here on the island remains tenuous and our list of dogs waiting to be rescued continues to grow, but we remain hopeful and #satostrong. Every time a lucky sato takes a flight off the island and finds her way to the loving family she was meant for, like Ember's story below, we are reminded of why we do this work. Thank you for being in our corner and helping sato treasures like Ember find the lives of their dreams.

In gratitude,

-- Chrissy Beckles, President and Founder

Satos Fly Every Week Through July
We'll be sending lucky satos on their Freedom Flights every week for the next six weeks! Our first batch of five special puppies landed last Saturday on June 15th. 
Siblings Shirley, Rufus, Woofy, and Murray were in horrific condition when they first came into our care in early March.
We rescued puppies Rufus, Murray, Woofy, Jack and Shirley from Guayanés Beach. They had no mother with them and were extremely fragile. Their noses and ears were burned from the sun, their bellies were distended from parasites, and their puppy teeth were worn down from chewing on hard rocks to ward off hunger pains. We are grateful that we found them when we did, otherwise they likely would not have been alive much longer.  But after a lot of love and good food, these little fighters all gradually transformed into the fuzzy, happy and healthy puppies they were meant to be, and have now all taken their Freedom Flights. After landing last weekend, lucky Rufus went straight into the arms of his new family. Murray and Jack have adoptions pending, but Woofy and Shirley are still looking for their families. If you would like to add a happy little sato to your crew this summer, you can submit an application on our website at thesatoproject.org/how-to-adopt.

Thanks to some amazing volunteers, we also have several lucky pups flying in-cabin this month.  By the end of July, over 30 lucky satos will have flown to new lives on 11 different flights. Be sure to keep watch on our social media pages to stay updated on all our latest sato travelers ( Facebook , Instagram , Twitter ). 
Clockwise from top left, Rufus gets cuddled by his new parents at the airport, and his siblings Murray, Woofy, Jack, and Shirley enjoy life with their foster families, while they wait for their forever families to find them.
Scout: Storm Dog tells story of Hurricane Maria and the plight of the satos
A few weeks after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, Scout, a K9 rescue dog and 
his 12-year-old owner, Matt, are stationed at a national guard base to help with relief efforts. There, they befriend Luisa, who introduces them to the plight of the island's satos. 

Scout: Storm Dog is a beautifully written tale that brings to light Puerto Rico’s devastation after Hurricane Maria and the thousands of stray dogs trying to survive across the island. While targeted toward younger audiences, we think dog lovers, especially sato lovers, of any age would love this story. 

We would like to say a big thank you to the book’s author, Jennifer Li Shotz, for telling the story of Puerto Rico’s devastation and bringing more awareness to the needless suffering our sato treasures.  You can learn more about the book and buy a copy by clicking here . We would also like to thank publishers Alloy and HarperCollins for their support of The Sato Project.
Meet a Sato Superhero: Barbara
Left: Barbara comforts newly arrived Steve at the airport after he gets off his Freedom Flight in New Jersey. Right: She welcomes two puppies who came to the Spayathon for Puerto Rico last November.
The Sato Project's team is filled with some of the biggest hearts. We truly could not do our life-saving work without them. There is no better example of these heroes than our longtime volunteer, Barbara, who has been with us since almost the beginning of our founding. 

Barbara first came into contact with The Sato Project through a friend on Facebook. Shortly after, she adopted her first sato in 2012. A couple months later, she adopted another one. She then stepped in to help when we needed an emergency foster family for a special pair and ended up adding two more satos to her family. Four dogs later, that was only the beginning. Barbara searched for even more ways she could step-in to support our work and her role in The Sato Project family gradually got bigger and bigger. She started volunteering as a transporter, but soon also became a donor and helped organize fundraising events. She designed our team sweatshirts. She has traveled to Puerto Rico five times to help with our work on the ground, including at The Spayathon and flying in on an airplane filled with emergency supplies right after Hurricane Maria. Her biggest job, however, has been helping our Adoption Director process adoption applications. Barbara plays a key role in helping to make sure that all of our satos only go to the best, most loving homes where we know they will be cherished forever. She helps review applications, follows up with potential adopters, and often takes on some of our special cases that need extra attention. She also helps follow up with newly adopted dogs to make sure they are adjusting well into their new lives.

And it doesn’t stop there. Barbara also helps process our satos’ microchips and steps in to help whenever our adopted satos get lost. She helps distribute flyers, communicate with the professional tracker, and often goes out to look for the missing dog herself, once even in seven degree weather, on her birthday.

Thank you, Barbara, for bringing your heart, warmth, humor, and dedication to our team and becoming such a vital member of our organization. We are so grateful to have had you in our ring, fighting for our satos over the last seven years. Thank you for being a Sato Superhero to so many dogs of Puerto Rico.
After adopting Chiquita, Barbara found out that she had been rescued with another dog, Toby. So she decided to adopt Toby, too. When we needed an emergency foster for a pair of bonded dogs having a hard time adjusting to life on the mainland, Barbara stepped up and took them in, and it wasn't long before Knight and JT became permanent family members. Pictured above are JT, Knight, Chiquita, and Toby on the very first day they met and became a pack in 2012. They are all very lucky to have Barbara as their mom.
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Ember's Howling Success
Left: Ember sits calmly with her brother, Ethan. Right: She keeps a watchful eye over her other brother, Carter, while he sleeps. "She is such a love and exactly what we needed in our lives. Ember could tell from Day 1 that Carter needed to be watched over," said Ember's mom.
We knew from the very beginning that Ember was special. A few days before Christmas, she was found abandoned on Dead Dog Beach, along with her seven puppies. Ember was exhausted and starving, but even though she was suffering, she had diligently cared for her puppies. All seven of them were healthy, chubby, and happy. While her self-sacrifice was heartbreaking to witness, it was an honor for us to rescue such a giving, selfless sato and finally give her the attention she deserved. She blossomed under our watch and our entire team fell in love with her sweet and friendly, yet sensitive demeanor. We couldn’t wait to find her the perfect family. 

After Ember and her puppies took their Freedom Flights, the puppies all found their forever families one by one. But after almost two months of living with a foster family, Ember had yet to find hers. She had several adoption applications submitted, but they all fell through.

Meanwhile, Kimberly and her family had been wanting a dog for a long time, but were waiting for the right moment. Her youngest son, Carter, has three rare diseases, two of which can be life threatening. And her other son, Ethan, has ADHD. So, in addition to the right timing, they also needed to make sure they could find the right dog who would be a good fit for their family. After ten months of looking through Petfinder, Kimberly saw Ember and immediately felt a tug at her heart. She knew they had to meet her. From that moment, Ember’s long wait seemed meant to be. Her perfect family had finally found her. 

Kimberly says that Ember immediately sensed that Carter needed to be watched over. She constantly keeps an eye on him. Every night before she goes to bed, she checks on him and watches him sleep, making sure that he is okay. And ever since Ember has arrived, Ethan has benefited too. He has become much calmer and is learning how to care for her. 

There is nothing that brings us more joy than seeing a rescued sato like Ember get placed with a such a perfect family that seems to be meant for her. We are honored that we could help bring Carter and Ethan such a sweet, mothering, and watchful sato who will be right there by their side as they continue to grow up. 
Left: Ember cuddles her brother. Right: She takes a break from watching her kids to give a big sato smile.
The Sato Project is dedicated to rescuing abused and abandoned dogs in Puerto Rico, where there are an estimated 500,000 stray dogs. With only nine shelters on the island with over a 90% euthanasia rate, we have rescued over 3,000 dogs, rehabilitated them with the highest standards of veterinary care, and found them loving homes on the mainland U.S.. We are also working to make permanent change on the island through community outreach and a Spay, Neuter, Vaccinate and Microchip Program.
"We fight so the dogs of Puerto Rico don't have to."