Getting Philanthropic in Puerto Rico: Volunteering At Save A Sato With The Manini Experience

My latest adventures took me to beautiful Puerto Rico with The Manini Experience, a travel company focused on adventure, fun, sustainable travel, and philanthropy. While there was plenty of fun and adventure to be had on the trip (think kayaking in bioluminescent bays and repelling down caves!), there were some pretty great philanthropic opportunities to be had too!

About Save a Sato

Our first day of the trip brought us to Save a Sato, a non-profit organization which provides food, shelter, medical attention, and adoption services for Puerto Rico’s homeless and abused animals.

The word “sato” is slang for street dog, and after the puppies and dogs are rescued and nursed back to health or are fit to be adopted, these former strays are sent to the United States to be adopted into permanent homes!

Upon arriving at the shelter, we met several of the dedicated volunteers and workers who devote their time and energy to taking care of these often forgotten animals. We learned that the shelter was opened in 1996 by a woman from the US who had a passion for looking after the area’s stray dogs and sent many home to be adopted.

Today, Save a Sato is one of the few places in Puerto Rico that looks after stray dogs. Unfortunately, as the women who operate the shelter explained, there is not a lot of interest in volunteering at the shelter from locals, so they are always in need of volunteers.

Volunteering at Save A Sato

We quickly got to work cleaning out dog cages, washing out water and food bowls, and letting the dogs out to play, and let me tell you, it was some pretty hard work! I don’t know how the ladies at the shelter do it every day! We were hot, we were sweaty, and we were definitely smelly, but it felt so great knowing that we were giving back and taking care of the cute stray doggies of Puerto Rico at the same time.

Volunteering at Save a Sato was also a great way to kick off the trip-what better way to bond with the group than by cleaning up doggie do-do together?

By the end of our time volunteering, I’m pretty sure all of us wanted to take a dog (or two!) home, and we definitely had fun playing around with the pups! (We also were all badly in need of a shower!)

How Can You Help?

If you are looking to add a volunteer experience at Save A Sato to your Puerto Rico visit, you can check out their website or Facebook page. If you don’t have time to volunteer, you can also consider making a donation- they are always in need of supplies like newspapers and cleaning products, and could definitely use some donations to help pay off their $17,000 vet bill.

If you do decide to volunteer, I’d suggest bringing water, snacks, and wearing clothes you don’t mind getting dirty, sweaty, and smelly! The shelter provided gloves which were perfect for protecting our hands while cleaning out the cages. You’ll also want to come prepared to work (and possibly fall in love with some cute dogs)! Save a Sato isn’t too far from San Juan, making it an easy activity to build into a Puerto Rico itinerary.

Disclaimer: This post is part of a collaboration with The Manini Experience. As always, my opinions are 100% my own! 

For more information on The Manini Experience and upcoming trips, be sure to check out their website, or check out their Day 1 blog post!

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Have you ever volunteered while on vacation or would you consider adding a volunteer experience to your Puerto Rico itinerary? Let me know in the comments below!

 

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