In the past two weeks, Puerto Rico has experienced back-to-back misfortunes. The small island has been hit by numerous earthquakes – and the resulting damage has been flooding in certain parts of the island as well as power outages.
As a result of the string of disasters, the animal shelters in Puerto Rico have been overwhelmed. Sadly, many of the island’s shelters have been affected by the recent earthquakes and there is hardly any space or supplies to take in the increased number of pets left homeless – and there have been some shelters who face no alternatives but to euthanize otherwise healthy pets because they simply don’t have the means to care for them.
In order to aid the struggling pets of Puerto Rico, as well as the people who help care for them, Wings of Rescue, GreaterGood.org and The Sato Project have all come together to airlift over 110 pets out of Puerto Rico and over to rescues in New Jersey, Florida, and Delaware. These mainland shelters have both the resources and space to care for these pets while helping them get adopted out.
The rescue flight occurred on the 19th of January. The plane, which was piloted by Wings of Rescue – a donation-based charity dedicated to flying at-risk pets to safety – arrived in Puerto Rico filled with plenty of the disaster relief supplies that were very much needed by the people of Puerto Rico. Once the plane was emptied of its supplies, both dogs and cats were loaded up for their new adventure.
After a safe journey, the animals landed in New Jersey, where they were attended to by volunteers before being picked up by the Sato Project and their shelter partners which were the Brandywine Valley SPCA, St Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center, and Broward County Humane, all to help them get started on their adoption journey.
All of the animals who were on the transport were fully vetted and certified, which means that the receiving shelters can expect the cats and dogs to be able to quickly find homes.
If you want to help assist the animals of Puerto Rico, then you are encouraged to join the Wings of Rescue Flight Support team and The Sato Project at www.wingsofrescue.org/donate and www.thesatoproject.org/donate.
