Lindsey Marion takes a photo with Rico, a stray dog who hitchhiked with her family from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Hartford, Connecticut.
PITTSFIELD — When Lindsey and Luke Marion went to Puerto Rico, they intended to bring three puppies back with them. Three were already a handful.
Marion and his wife, co-owners of Otto's Kitchen & Comfort, were on a mission. Flight He was scheduled to fly home from San Juan to Hartford, Conn., with three stray puppies in tow through a program called Angels. The program pairs dogs and cats from the islands with “flight angels” who help bring them to shelters on the mainland United States.
Almost 5 years old, Nora Marion has a pet named Candy, a stray puppy her family brought from Puerto Rico to Hartford, Connecticut.
The mission of “Flight Angel” is not an easy one. Lindsay Marion arrived at the airport at 4:30 a.m. with her family, and she said she had adopted three puppies from a foster parent. It was the first time she met the dogs she planned to bring back to New England.
After that, we filled out the dog's customs paperwork, let it pass through a TSA checkpoint in socks, and cleaned the inside of a pet carrier equipped with a set of puppy pads, wipes, and gloves. It was a difficult process for one of the puppies, named Panda.
The panda was one of three puppies the Marion family escorted on a flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Hartford, Connecticut, as part of the Flight Angels program.
Next up was a four-hour flight with pandas, Candy and Tony puppies between our legs. Their daughters, Nora and Zoe, also had dogs with them. While Nora waited for her plane to take off, she took the time to pet Candy.
Candy was one of several stray puppies brought by the Marion family from San Juan, Puerto Rico to a shelter in Hartford, Connecticut.
Overall, the Marions said their transition back to Connecticut was relatively smooth. This was Lindsay's second time participating in the program.
“Next time I might opt for an upgrade for more legroom,” was Luke Marion's only note.
Everything went according to plan, except for finding an unexpected fourth puppy along the way.
Rico joins the family
Rather than go to Puerto Rico to pick up the dog and immediately turn back, Marion and his wife vacationed in Puerto Rico with Otto's staff. While staying at an Airbnb, a chance encounter helped the island's prolific feral cat find a forever home.
“We're all ready to go to the pool where we're staying,” Lindsay Marion said. “And out of the bushes comes this little doggie, wriggling around like crazy and making sad little cries.”
The next thing she knew, she was sitting in the grass with a “wavy blonde” dog on her lap, licking her face. Despite initial protests by Luke Marion (noting that she already has two dogs and “a lot of cats”), “Rico” , had just joined the family.
Lindsey and Luke Marion found a stray puppy named Rico while staying at an Airbnb in San Juan. The family had already made plans to transport three other stray cats to a shelter in Connecticut, so they brought Rico home.
The next day of our vacation was far from a day at the beach. Lindsey Marion said she and her family spent most of their time in the veterinarian's office getting Rico the treatment he needed. Her children were “selfless,” she said, sacrificing a day of her vacation for it. Nora, who is almost five years old, was the main supporter of Rico's adoption.
A local resident who lives near the Airbnb and cares for stray dogs in the immediate area was happy to see the family take the dog. Lindsay Marion said many local shop owners and residents leave food and water out for stray dogs and cats.
So Lindsay Marion enlisted the help of friends to raise $400 to fly Rico home, and when she far exceeded her goal, she used the additional $280 she raised. , purchased bags of food to be distributed to local residents. Get lost.
Lindsay Marion said bringing four dogs home from San Juan was no easy task, but the scope of the problem is much larger. She is in the early stages of potentially starting a 501(c)(3) organization to launch a “trap, neuter, release” program to help manage feral populations on the island, or We have started collecting funds to support the Angels. vehicle.
For now, the family is just happy to have a new addition to the family.
