If adopting a pet is on your to-do list this holiday season, listen up. You might actually be able to bring a dog or cat home from your next vacation.
There’s a very cool program at the Aspen Animal Shelter that actually lets you borrow a dog to spend the day together. If you fall in love with the dog, the adoption process is very straightforward–just $100 to cover the costs of neutering, vaccine and microchips. These guys adopt out as many as 300 dogs a year.
In St. Thomas, the Humane Society has been around since 1967, founded by locals who saw the plight of strays on island. They’ve only recently been adopting out to statesiders and this year alone, they’ve sent more than 30 dogs to homes and no-kill shelters.
In Puerto Rico, stray dogs are known as satos, and there are several projects such as the Sato Project and Save the Sato. You can also check out the Mango Beach Shop, where the shop owners have been unofficially rescuing dogs for years. Just visit the souvenir shop and if you want to adopt one of the dogs, they’ll point you a reputable vet to get a health certificate and help you with the kennel and other travel gear.
Even if you can’t adopt, most Caribbean shelters need help transporting pets to the States, so you can bring them on your return flight to their new homes.
- Learn more about how to adopt a pet while you travel on Peter’s CBS News report
- Check out this slideshow of pets you can rescue while traveling
- More animal rescue vacation ideas
