Tourists fall in puppy love
Thousands of stray dogs find homes with help from a nonprofit
When Brandon and Alyse Kay embarked on their honeymoon to the Turks and Caicos Islands, the last thing they expected was to bring a puppy home with them to Chicago.
“We had no intention of bringing a dog back,” Brandon Kay said. “Next thing I knew, I was carrying a dog through customs.”
The couples’ dog — whom they adopted in 2019 and named Blueberry because he was found under a berry bush — is one of thousands of puppies that a team of local volunteers have rescued and placed for adoption with tourists like the Kays.
“Our lives were changed forever,” Brandon Kay said, adding that, despite being born in a tropical climate, Blueberry adores the snow. “He is such a big part of who we are.”
Jane Parker-Rauw is the founder and director of Potcake Place K9 Rescue. She started the nonprofit organization in 2004, but “I was rescuing dogs for probably about five years before that, just unofficially,” she said.
Brandon Kay said that his wife had heard about the charity before their trip, and she suggested they go visit the adoption center in Grace Bay to see the cute puppies.
The rescue group has a storefront in a busy shopping area, and tourists line up in the mornings to have a chance to take a pup on a walk on the beach. Sometimes the line snakes around the block.
Recognizing need
Parker-Rauw, who is originally from England, moved to the island in 1996 for a job in the spa industry. She initially signed on for a 12-month contract and ended up staying.
Soon after moving to Turks and Caicos, she noticed an abundance of stray dogs — called “potcakes” — roaming around. The name potcakes came about because locals regularly left out their cooking pots, which were caked with food remnants, for the dogs to eat, she said. Other Caribbean islands are known for having potcakes, too.
There was limited infrastructure and regulation in place to prevent the potcakes from excessively breeding. The result: tons of puppies, and not enough people to look after them.
“Just seeing the problem, I wanted to try to do something to help,” recalled Parker-Rauw, who said she has always been an animal lover, although she had no experience working with dogs.
She began volunteering at the Turks and Caicos Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and would go door-todoor in residential areas to speak with locals about spay and neuter services. In many cases, the dogs had already started breeding.
“Every house came with six to 13 puppies, and the SPCA had nowhere to put them,” said Parker-Rauw, whose job at the time was to have the puppies euthanized. “It wasn’t out of cruelty. They just had nowhere to put all these pups.”
Watching so many helpless potcake puppies die was painful for Parker-Rauw.
“I understood why it had to be done,” she said. “But it didn’t sit too well with me.”
After successfully adopting out one puppy, “I decided, there’s a place for every potcake,” Parker-Rauw said.
So she started Potcake Place — an all-volunteer staffed charity, which depends on donations to operate. A group of about 15 volunteers rescue the puppies, which they often find through the SPCA.
At any given time, there are between 60 and 100 puppies and dogs under Potcake Place’s care. They are mostly fostered in local volunteer homes until they are adopted. On a yearly basis, the organization helps adopt about 500 dogs to people from the United States, Canada and elsewhere.
‘Serious commitment’
“We really care about where these pups go,” Parker-Rauw said, adding that her team conducts a rigorous inspection before finalizing an adoption, which includes vet references and background checks. “We don’t want them ending up in shelters.
“You can’t just come down here and pick out a puppy and take it home,” she added. “It’s a serious commitment, and we take it very seriously.”
Although the adoption requirements are rigid, “we adopt out every single one of our puppies,” Parker-Rauw said.
Many of the rescued puppies have a rough start to life, including Lauren Olzawski’s dog, Adira, who was found in a junkyard inside an old washing machine four years ago.
A few months after Adira was rescued, Olzawski — who lives in Loudoun County, Va. — arrived in Turks and Caicos for a vacation with her best friend. Whenever she travels, she said, she makes a point of volunteering at local rescue organizations.
She eagerly signed up to take a puppy on a socialization walk along the beach.
While Adira was shy when they first met, “she totally blossomed,” said Olzawski, who decided the pup had to be hers.
Puppy walks have become a popular tourist attraction in the area. While it’s a fun (and free) activity for tourists, it serves an important purpose for Potcake Place. “Ultimately, you’re helping these puppies get adopted by socializing them,” Olzawski said.
Adam Kronick and his family had a similar experience. They took their now 4-year-old potcake, Millie, on a walk along the beach several years ago while on a family vacation “and fell in love,” he said. “That was it.”
Millie was found wandering alone on the Millennium Highway, which is how she got her name. At the mercy of his wife and three children, Kronick said, he had no choice but to bring Millie home to Toronto at the end of their trip.
Most people bring their dogs home with them , but some rely on volunteer couriers to transport them.
“At least 40% of people that adopt with us are with couriers,” Parker-Rauw said, explaining that many people decide weeks or months after visiting Turks and Caicos that they want to adopt a dog. The charity tries to find a willing tourist to fly the dog to an accessible airport on their way home. Generally, the adopters pay the $125 cabin fee. “It’s just a really good thing to do.”
In its own way, Parker-Rauw said, being a courier is “very rewarding,” particularly for individuals who don’t feel ready to adopt. “You can help in lots of ways other than adopting.”
Each puppy costs the charity roughly $300 to $500 to look after before they are adopted. Some visitors offer to sponsor a dog instead of adopting or transporting the animal.
“You can save a dog without having to take it in,” ParkerRauw said.