David Chokachi of “Baywatch” chatted with #Powerjournalist Markos Papadatos about The Sato Project.
“I’m an actor, a dad, and a lifelong advocate for dog adoption, rescue, and welfare,” he said. “For the past 25 years, I’ve proudly served as an ambassador for Best Friends Animal Society. I also volunteer my time with Paws for Life K9 Rescue and Angel City Pits.”
Chokachi continued, “When the fires broke out in LA this January, Best Friends anticipated a surge of displaced and surrendered dogs. They reached out and asked if I could help at a private airport in Burbank, where Wings of Rescue was flying dogs out to shelters across the country to free up space in local shelters.”
“I ended up working on eight flights over a couple of weeks. On the very first day, Ric Browde, President of Wings of Rescue, called for a volunteer to come up into the cargo hold to help load and stack dogs in their crates. I immediately raised my hand. I love hard, physical work — and it meant I could be close to the dogs,” he said.
“I work fast, I anticipate problems, and I’m fiercely passionate about dogs,” he admitted. “Ric recognized that, and after loading 8 more emergency flights out of LA, Ric offered me the opportunity to officially join the Wings of Rescue flight crew as a dog handler, and Im the one, with the help of one of the pilots, who does all of the stacking of the dogs already in their crates. Over the past few months, I’ve done 7 flights, helping load, fly, handle, and unload dogs across the country, delivering them to a safe haven, and ultimately saving their life (the amount of healthy, kind, loving dogs being euthanized everyday will make you sick to your stomach.”
“Just 10 days ago, Ric contacted me about a special mission: transporting dogs from Puerto Rico to New Jersey,” Chokachi said. “I had no idea about the scale of the crisis on the island — roughly 700,000 stray dogs. Many are loving, non-aggressive animals, but are being hunted, poisoned, and killed in horrific ways. I’ve seen the footage. It’s gut-wrenching. To make matters worse, the government is considering issuing hunting licenses to the public to encourage mass slaughter. I couldn’t believe what I was learning. Seeing that footage left me horrified, enraged, and more determined than ever to take action.”
“Ric then told me about The Sato Project — an extraordinary animal rescue organization in Puerto Rico. I didn’t need convincing. I never do, but this mission felt especially urgent,” Chokachi noted.
“Meeting Chrissy Beckles, the founder and president of The Sato Project, was one of the most inspiring moments of my life,” he acknowledged. “Despite her background as a three-time Golden Gloves boxing champion, she gave it all up to fight for these dogs. She’s a true warrior, facing a brutal uphill battle with strength, heart, and unshakable commitment. Touring the island with her, seeing where the strays live, and hearing about the work her team is doing was nothing short of mind-blowing.”
“What struck me most was how incredibly loving and happy these dogs were — even after everything they’d endured. I was overwhelmed by the affection they gave me. The Sato Project isn’t just rescuing dogs — they’re rehabilitating them with immense care, matching them with the right families, and following through to ensure successful adoptions. It’s a well-oiled, deeply compassionate machine,” he elaborated.
“We landed in New Jersey at former Mayor Bloomberg’s private hangar (he’s a major supporter of The Sato Project) and were greeted by a sea of red Sato shirts — enthusiastic volunteers — and behind them, the families who had pre-adopted the dogs we were bringing in. When we opened the hatch, a roar of cheers broke out. The joy was contagious,” he exclaimed.
Chokachi continued, “It had been a long journey: I flew from LA to Florida commercially, then helped load up supplies for The Sato Project onto the charter plane Wings of Rescue uses, (the cost of the cargo airplane and the fuel comes out of Wings of Rescues budget, they operate solely on donations, this specific trip cost them $60,000) Landing in Puerto Rico at 6:00AM, helped unload and transfer all of the supplies, then spent the day in Puerto Rico with Chrissy seeing firsthand the crisis on the ground, learning from her the complexities involved in their mission.”
“We then had to load and fly the dogs at night because of the extreme heat, we started loading the dogs at 11 PM in a torrential rain, taking off at 1:30 AM. We stopped briefly in Fort Lauderdale to drop off three dogs to families who had previously adopted from Sato — and were back adopting one more each. Even a ground crew member told me his own dog came from The Sato Project. We picked up six more dogs from an overcrowded Florida shelter, refueled, and flew another four hours to New Jersey,” he elaborated.
“With the help of passionate volunteers, we unloaded the dogs,” he said. “They were bathed, cleaned up, fed, watered — and placed in the arms of their new families. Seeing the joy in the eyes of the kids, the families, knowing that just months ago these dogs had been living in the wild… now headed home to a soft couch, unconditional love, and a new life — my heart cracked open with love.”
“Witnessing moments like this, working alongside people like Chrissy Beckles and the extraordinary teams at Wings of Rescue and The Sato Project, restores my faith in humanity. I am endlessly grateful. I will always be a proud and devoted supporter of The Sato Project (and of course Wings of Rescue)— and I will do whatever I can to help strengthen and accomplish their missions,” Chokachi concluded.
To learn more about David Chokachi, follow him on Instagram.
For more information on The Sato Project, check out its official homepage.
