Island Dog Rescue

Sali Gear, a pilot, military veteran, and former resident of St. Croix is the founder of Island Dog Rescue.  Sali has the knowledge and expertise to solve one of the most difficult problems in aiding our rescue partners in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands... Transportation.   Once dogs are medically  cleared and ready for travel, Island Dog Rescue coordinates and funds the collection of the dogs, crating, loading and the flights. We often fly as many as sixty dogs per trip.  Upon arrival to the mainland, we handle the coordination and transportation on the receiving end with our adoption partners and fosters, located throughout the US. 

No one organization moves more animals out of the Caribbean than Island Dog Rescue.  As military veterans and aviators ourselves, we have leveraged our knowledge and relationships to establish a way off the islands for not only animals that were left behind in the evacuation, but the thousands that are still homeless.  In 2018, we moved more than 3,600 dogs (and many cats) to safety on the mainland, of which over 700 were adopted directly through our organization.  Our focus is on the few island community shelters and primarily with the small, independent rescuers.  Over time we have become partners through financial support and the establishment of medical protocols that ensure the dogs we fly to our stateside partners are healthy and adoptable.  We have come to see that there are many passionate people that care about the island population and we can best serve them by supporting them in their efforts.  Stateside partners are an important link in the process and we are always looking for shelters and rescues that want to join us in our efforts to reduce the burden on the islands, while we work to resolve the multiple issues.  It clearly “Takes a Pack” and we are happy to be the leaders in the effort.