This extremely challenging year is finally almost over. Despite all the challenges, you have helped us continue to make a tremendous impact for the animals of Puerto Rico. With our last Freedom Flight of 2020 now behind us, The Sato Project has officially transported over 1000 dogs and cats to new lives this year. I am so proud of our small but mighty team and everything our community has accomplished. And I hope that you are proud, too. We could not have done it without you.

At 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, December 12, our last Freedom Flight of 2020 took off from San Juan, Puerto Rico filled with 174 special holiday deliveries. After making stops in Florida, New York, and Maine, all 174 dogs and cats made it to their destinations safely by mid-afternoon. All of the animals onboard were either rescued from the streets of Puerto Rico or pulled from overburdened shelters impacted by recent earthquakes. Now they will all get to celebrate the holidays surrounded by love and new forever families. Many of these Puerto Rican treasures even went directly into the arms of their new families at the airport. To see a video and photos of some of these lucky satos meeting their families for the first time, click here.

This life-saving magic is only possible because of the support from our community. Thank you so much to all of our donors and supporters for helping this Freedom Flight become a reality. We would also like to say a special thank you to our partners on this transport: Wings of Rescue, Greater Good Charities, @KeepingFinn, and Tito’s Handmade Vodka.

Left: Our volunteer Carla unloads Linus, our 1000th dog rescued this year, from the airplane. His crate was specially decorated to celebrate the occasion. Top Right: Our special arrivals are unloaded from the airplane in NY. Bottom Right: Sato Blue receives his first hug from his new mom at the airport. All photos by @KeepingFinn. Click here to see more photos and a video from our last transport of 2020.

This transport also marked an important milestone: onboard this plane was Linus, our 1000th dog rescued, vetted, and flown to a new life this year. For all of us, 2020 has been a year unlike any other. This year began with deadly earthquakes in Puerto Rico. By summer, we were facing the most threatening hurricane season on record and a drought. This was all in addition to the pandemic. However, thanks to our community's generous support, The Sato Project has been able to continue saving an unprecedented amount of lives and building a lasting impact for the animals of Puerto Rico. Over the last 10 years, The Sato Project has rescued an average of 400-500 dogs a year. Our flight last weekend, however, brought our total to 1056 rescued dogs and cats flown to new lives in 2020.

None of The Sato Project's work would be possible without our incredible volunteers. In the middle of loading the plane in Puerto Rico, a sudden downpour threatened to delay the process. Unheeded, our team kept working in the rain anyway. In New York, thick fog threatened to detour the airplane. Fortunately, the skilled pilot was able to land safely at the airport, where our team of volunteers waited, ready to welcome every sato with open and loving arms. Thank you to all of our volunteers for their hard work in making all of these holiday dreams come true.

Video cover photo by @TheDogist

For 2020’s Pet of the Year, TIME Magazine is celebrating all rescue animals. We are honored they chose to feature The Sato Project as part of this celebration. Click above to watch TIME’s video about our rescue efforts. You’ll also get to see an update on one of our very special rescues of 2020!

Still need a thoughtful gift for a dog-lover in your life? We've got you covered! Donations in honor of a loved one can go a long way to support our life-saving rescue efforts in Puerto Rico and we are honored to continue our work in the name of your friends, family and colleagues.

Many of you (especially if you follow us on social media) already know of our sato ambassadors Henry and Finn. What you might not know, however, is just how much these two have quickly become Sato Superheroes in our community. 

In 2018, our sato Finn was chosen for a special ‘Rescue Ride’ road trip with popular social media account, The Dogist (AKA Elias Friedman, Henry's brother). Little did we know how many lives that road trip would end up changing.

Henry eventually adopted Finn himself and established his own massively popular Instagram account with Finn, @KeepingFinn. Last year, Henry decided to harness this attention into not only raising awareness, but directly building positive change for animal welfare. He started a Patreon account called 'Finn To The Rescue' (also referred to as #TeamFinn), with 100% of all proceeds donated to a different rescue organization every month. Since starting his Patreon, #TeamFinn has donated over $150,000 to animal rescue organizations across the United States and Mexico. 

In addition to highlighting and supporting a new organization every month, Henry continues to include The Sato Project in his ongoing mission to raise awareness and build lasting impact for rescue dogs in need. Henry regularly features The Sato Project on @KeepingFinn’s Instagram account, and has returned to Puerto Rico twice to cover our operations first-hand and volunteer his photography skills. Additionally, 10% of #TeamFinn’s funds go directly toward our rescue efforts in Puerto Rico every month. This month, Henry didn’t just stop there. He also donated $10K directly toward last weekend’s holiday Freedom Flight that delivered 174 dogs and cats to new homes. If this wasn't enough, two of the satos onboard, Linus (our 1000th dog rescued this year!) and Dolly have officially embarked on a special adventure following in Finn's footsteps: Henry is taking them on their own road trip across the country to find their forever families.

Thank you, Henry and the #TeamFinn community, for being a voice for the dogs of Puerto Rico and all rescue animals across the country. We are so grateful to have you in our sato corner, helping us fight for more satos like Finn.

Above: Henry surrounded by three lucky satos: Finn, Linus and Dolly. Linus and Dolly are getting fostered by Henry while taking a road trip to their forever families. You can follow along on their journey through Finn's instagram account @KeepingFinn. Photo by @KeepingFinn.