Sato Finds Home in Hampton Roads

From Puerto Rico to Hampton Roads: A “Sato” Named Max Gets a New Home

Although U.S. animal shelters are busting at the seams, Puerto Rico (P.R.) suffers from a devastating overpopulation and homelessness of dogs. Animal rescue groups in the U.S. work hand in hand with Puertorican shelters such as Salinas Rescue in Puerto Rico, to help find homes for these homeless dogs known in Puerto Rico as “Satos” slang for mixed breed animals.

Rebecca Allen from Hampton Roads, recently adopted Max, from Adirondack Save a Stray. A completely volunteer run no kill shelter which gets thousands of dogs from Puerto Rico and local surrenders and helps them get fostered and adopted. Max was flown in from Puerto Rico with over 15 other puppies in hopes of finding a new loving home. Meredith Fiel, Executive Director of Adirondack Save A Stray, says "We have save over 7,000 dogs through this program, over the last 6 years."

In Puerto Rico, these strays are rescued by Salinas Rescue, treated by their veterinarian and vaccinated. Once they are old enough to be transported to the U.S. they are flown to their destination city. In Max's case, he arrived in Connecticut and was picked up by volunteers from the rescue organization. He then continued his journey on a 3 hour ride to the Adirondack Save A Stray shelter. On arrival these dogs are given their first routine exams, socialized and temperment tested.

Max has had an interesting adventure but if it wasn't for Rebecca Allen and the volunteers at Adirondack Save a Stray, Max may have had a different type of fate on the streets of Puerto Rico.

Interested in adopting a Sato or homeless animals in Hampton Roads these organizations can help:

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