Stray dogs and cats from Puerto Rico arrive in New Jersey after Hurricane Fiona

The island of Puerto Rico is in the midst of a major recovery from Hurricane Fiona. While the main focus is on assisting human life, there are also efforts to help the animals on the island.
More than 100 animals from shelters in Puerto Rico have arrived in New Jersey. They arrived at 12:40 p.m. Thursday at Morristown Airport. There were 130 dogs and cats on the flight.
Volunteers say that the animals would most likely not have survived in Puerto Rico.
“It’s something you don’t want to think about. You know there’s only one outcome for that. These shelters, they can’t care for them,” says Bobby Beckles, of the Sato Project.
Beckles runs the Sato Project with his wife. The nonprofit is responsible for the flight. The dogs and cats were taken from three shelters in Puerto Rico, which were severely flooded from the storm.
“There was flooding. There were mudslides. There are trees down. They didn’t have anywhere for their animals,” says Beckles.
The animals will be distributed among 12 different animals rescues and shelters. Some will be going as far away as Rhode Island and Connecticut. The majority will be staying in New Jersey.
“I think we are scheduled to take three," says Richard Errico, with Home for Good Dog Rescue. “We will bathe them, take care of all their needs. Feed them, and then the fosters will come and pick them up. They’ll be spending tonight in a nice home.”
Once the dogs and cats were sorted off the plane, they were given a chance to stretch their legs and were then boarded back on to vans.
Before arriving in New Jersey, all had to be checked by a veterinarian. All flew in with the proper paperwork so that they will be ready for placement with families who are looking to turn one of these survivors into their family pet.
“We will place them on the website available for adoption immediately,” says Errico. “Hopefully by the weekend some of these dogs will be gone.”
The Sato Project was created 10 years ago to help decrease the number of stay animals in Puerto Rico through free spay and neutering and adoption efforts.