San Juan, Puerto Rico. December 27, 2023. – With the aim of continuing to support awareness of the situation suffered by thousands of stray animals on the Island and the work of non-profit entities that promote their adoption, Ford Puerto Rico will carry out its Ford Paws initiative for the third consecutive year. On this occasion, the initiative will be in alliance with SatoLand Forest, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to the rescue, medical treatment and advocacy of homeless adult pets in Puerto Rico.
“Our mission is to help stray dogs and cats in Puerto Rico find a forever home and, above all, in the case of older animals, for them to have a second chance at life and spend their last years surrounded by love. The ‘nobody’s dogs’, as we call in our organization all the animals that people say are nobody’s, or that they are ‘from the street’, or that are ‘out there’, become magical when they find their own families. For us, the Ford Paws initiative represents more than collaboration, it represents hope,” said Sarai Rivera, founder of SatoLand Forest, a farm located in Bayamón.
As part of this year’s campaign –which includes the participation of television presenter Andrea Rivera as an ambassador of the program for the third time– Ford provided welcome kits with basic pet care items that will be distributed to the first 150 families who adopt a dog through the SatoLand Forest organization. The kits include food bowl, rope toy, reflective collar tag and a pet medical record keeper.
In addition, Ford will also donate to the first 70 families who adopt an animal at SatoLand, a bed for their pet produced in Puerto Rico with recycled materials by Comfybum, a social enterprise founded by one of the teams of university students that won the Ford College Community Challenge competition (Ford C3), which was sponsored by the automotive company and Enactus Puerto Rico.
“We are pleased to know that Enactus Puerto Rico is also present in an initiative like Ford Paws through Comfybum, since the objective of the competition in which this company participated is, precisely, to motivate young university leaders to become interested in the design and development of projects that address critical needs and generate positive and sustainable impact in their communities,” said Rody Rivera, country leader of Enactus Puerto Rico.
“The abuse and abandonment of animals continue to be a serious problem in Puerto Rico and that is why, through Ford Paws, we seek to continue raising awareness and contribute to solving it. Although we know that all real animals deserve attention and affection, this year we have joined SatoLand Forest to make a call focused on offering a better quality of life to adult dogs through adoption,” said Vivian Dávila, Ford communications manager for Puerto Rico, Central America and the Caribbean.
Founded eight years ago, SatoLand Forest currently provides shelter to around 200 animals. Although they send most of the rescued dogs to an adoption center in Connecticut, the farm continues to care for those who are less likely to be adopted. 
