Howdy Dog Pack! Welcome to Dogonomist, what discerning dogs and dog lovers like to read.

Follow us on Twitter (or shall we say follow us on X now?)

THIS WEEK'S TOPICS:

• 🎖️ Rescuing 7,150 dogs from Puerto Rico

• 🔥 Hot dog summer (hustle)

• ⚗️ Power of chow: new study shows diet affects on itchy dogs

🎖️ RESCUING 7,150 DOGS FROM PUERTO RICO

The plight of street dogs is one that gets us in the feels 🥺.

We're those people that can't watch the Sarah McLachlan SPCA commercials because we don't want to get choked up in public. So anytime we come across someone on a mission to make their lives better we become a big time supporter.

This week we are covering The Sato Project, an organization dedicated to rescuing abused and abandoned dogs from Puerto Rico (if you remember, we've also covered one man's mission to do the same in Thailand).

Origin and Mission

The Sato Project was founded in 2011 by Chrissy Beckles, who started off by rescuing one dog at a time until deciding to start an organization to have more of an impact.

Her goal was simple but large: save as many canine lives and end Puerto Rico's stray dog crisis once and for all.

They estimate 500,000 stray dogs roam Puerto Rico, and with only 5 shelters across the whole island, the euthanasia rate is heartbreakingly high.

To combat this massive problem, they run seven primary programs:

1. Rescue and Rehab

2. Freedom Flights to the Mainland

3. Spay/Neuter/Vaccine

4. Adoption & Shelter Placement

5. Disaster Relief

6. Education & Awareness

7. Sanctuary (their own shelter)

They operate mostly out of Yabucoa, home to the terribly named "dead dog beach" (which Sato has fantastically been able to rid of nearly all stray dogs!), the place that Chrissy started her efforts.

Oh, and since you were probably wondering, "sato" is slang for dog in Puerto Rico!

The Process

When the team identifies a stray dog, they capture them and take them straight to their veterinary office.

From there they immediately test for known diseases and run a full blood panel to evaluate the dog's health while they keep them quarantined for safety.

They then either decide on a treatment routine, or if ready, give them up to date vaccines and shots. The average dog stays at the vet for 8 weeks. At any given time, they have 80-90 dogs boarded (boarding is their biggest expense).

In addition to making sure each doggo is healthy, they ultimately want to find them a forever home. So next comes a behavioral assessment and any social rehab needed to get them there.

Finally when a pup is ready, Sato partners with another non-profit called Wings of Rescue to fly groups on large transport planes to NY (where Sato is headquartered). They fantastically call these the "Freedom Flights"!

Finally, the home stretch. After the long flight most dogs are united with their new adoptive families to live out a happy and well deserved life.

Some Numbers

• 7,150 and counting - the number of dogs rescued from the streets

• 8,000 dogs and cats neutered

• 84% of expenses in 2021 went directly to rescue and spay / neuter campaigns

• $2,314,730 in revenue for 2021 (primarily donations)

• $2,145,615 in expenses for 2021

What Do We Think?

We think this is amazing and the world needs more.

We've heard stories of mismanaged charities whose funds primarily go to staff and bloated expenses, but the Sato Project seems to run a pretty lean ship, and is rated as a 4 star charity by Charity Navigator.

We also really appreciate how comprehensive they are and the amount of impact they've had.

How to Contribute

Not only can you help, there are plenty of ways to do so:

• Donate! - pretty easy

• Buy some swag - every purchase goes toward the program

• Volunteer - they really on volunteers for fostering, fundraising, transporting dogs, and more

• Adopt - probably the most impactful way to help

Ok, we need some tissues after all that heart wrenching.

We love learning and sharing about these types of organizations, so if you know of other's whose missions we should highlight, email us at [email protected] and we'd love to highlight them!

🔥 HOT DOG SUMMER (HUSTLE)

Who doesn't like that sweet, sweet extra cash? 💰

Whether it's making some side dough yourself in your spare time, or helping a kid make some summer money, there are plenty of opportunities out there for someone with a love of dogs and a little hustle.

We've gathered a few ideas you can try from the comfort of your neighborhood if you or someone you know are looking to dip their toes into the entre-paw-nuerial dog bowl:

Pet Sitting 🪑

Summer is the time for vacations, and for dog owners, that means either boarding or finding someone to pet sit.

That right there is our opportunity.

The great thing is, if you live in a neighborhood, you should already be able to identify the dog owners (they'd be the ones walking their dogs, duh!).

These are your target customers and next time you see them out for a walk, let them know you are offering in-home dog sitting for the neighborhood this summer.

The appeal to the owner is their pup gets to stay in a familiar place, and you will be cheaper than a dog hotel.

According to Thumbtack, pet sitters charge around $25-$30 per day for a 30 minute visit:

Not bad for a quick and easy food / water refresh, bio break, and plenty of pets. Imagine if you could get a few lined up at once!

In addition, you could offer walks as an add-on. Maybe an extra $15/day for a 10 minute walk?

Homemade dog treats 👩‍🍳

Homemade just tastes better, don't you think?

If you're comfortable in the kitchen (and even if not), the idea here is to whip up some tasty treats that you could sell to neighbors.

Take this easy recipe for peanut butter treats that you know any dog would scarf down.

Next time you see a dog out for a walk, offer them a free treat and see how they like it.

Chances are they will wolf it down, at which point you can make your pitch. Set a lower price point with the goal being to get repeat purchases (weekly, monthly, etc).

Ideally you are making a 50% margin on the ingredients, but the tastier, the higher you can try to go!

⚠️ It's important to note that pet food manufacturing does require a license, so this is in the gray area right alongside lemonade stands. Also, you'll want to be careful with ingredients and allergies and make sure owners know what is in any treats.

Pooper Scooper 💩

Glamorous? No. But potentially lucrative? Yes.

No one wants to scoop poop, but chances are if you've got a yard and a dog, there are plenty of "treasures" hiding out.

People's desire to avoid cleaning it up is our opportunity!

You could spy some of the larger yards out in the surrounding area and offer a weekly or bi-weekly service to come clear out their lawns of any excrement.

Pricing somewhere around $25-$30 per week seems right, and is something you could squeeze in on weekend or weekday mornings.

Expenses would be minimal beyond some baggies and a scooper!

So there you have it.

There are plenty of other things you can do as well, but hopefully this got the brain juices flowing and you on the way to some extra bucks in your pocket.

⚗️ POWER OF CHOW: NEW STUDY SHOWS DIET AFFECTS ON ITCHY DOGS

Here's some news that might make life a bit better for our furry pals who often suffer from excessive itchy and inflamed skin, a problem also known as canine atopic dermatitis.

Scientists from a university in Spain looked at how different kinds of food can affect this skin problem.

They looked at two types of dog food:

One, a common type of food (lets call it diet A) you might buy from the store that's made mainly of a protein and rice (grains); and two, a special diet (lets call it diet B) that doesn't contain any grains but does have a lot of salmon (omega-3s) in it.

What they found was interesting 🧐.

Both types of food made the skin problem less severe.

But here's the twist: diet A, the rice-based food was the only one that made the dogs scratch less.

What's more, diet A also affected two proteins in the dogs' bodies.

It reduced the levels of one protein that usually makes dogs itch, and it increased the levels of another protein that helps reduce inflammation, which means less redness and overall swelling.

But, the food didn't change much about the dogs' immune systems. This means that, while changing a dog's diet can help with the skin problem, it won't completely get rid of it.

So what can we learn from this?

The food that our dogs eat can help them deal with this itchy skin problem, but we still need more information to know the best way to feed them overall.

So, watch what your dog eats, document frequently and remember, every little bit can make a big difference in their health!

KIBBLE BITS:

Every week we love to shoutout a pooch that has made another trip around the sun.

Happy 11th birthday 🎂 to Rainy! We hope you got everything you wished for and more!

That's all there is to bark about this week.

If you want more, be sure to follow our Twitter (@dogonomist).