page_title: Sato Project
section_title: Operations
hierarchical_section_title: Sato Project / Operations
caption_attribution_description: English: Sato adopted in the US
context_page_description: The Sato Project is an animal rescue and protection organization founded in 2011 by British-born Christina Beckles. It works to rescue abused and abandoned dogs in Puerto Rico, educating the public, and advocating for abused and abandoned dogs. "Sato" is the Spanish word used in Puerto Rico and Cuba for referring to stray dogs or cats. Many of the project's missions have involved airlifting dogs before and after natural disasters, including Hurricane Maria in 2017 and the earthquakes that struck Puerto Rico in 2019 and 2020. "Spayathon", a high volume spaying and neutering program, managed by Sato Project has had an impact on the island's stray dog population that in 2018 the University of Puerto Rico estimated to be around 300,000.
context_section_description: The Sato Project is composed of two teams: one which operates within Puerto Rico and another which operates in the mainland United States. These teams operate in conjunction with one another to get the dogs shipped out of Puerto Rico and to different states in the U.S.
  The process of helping these animals begins with them being logged and identified on the beach. Once logged, the Beach Coordinator will check in on these dogs, and give them food and medicine, each day, until space opens up in the Sato Project shelter. Once a dog is taken to the shelter it receives a full check-up: A veterinarian determines what, if any, medications or care is required for that animal to return to full health. In addition to a check-up, the dogs are spayed/neutered and vaccinated. When the dog is finally well enough to travel, volunteers in Puerto Rico help prepare it to fly to either JFK in New York or Newark Airport in New Jersey. Upon arriving, the dogs are received by another team of volunteers who transport them to the project's adoption team. The latter works to find every dog a home and will even take a dog back if an adoption fails but less than .1% of adopted satos are returned.
  The scale is 300-350 dogs per year but can increase significantly when there is a natural disaster in Puerto Rico.
caption: Sato adopted by someone in Massachusetts, US
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