The six-month-old shiny black potcake puppy got a chance that few of the 5,000 strays on the Turks and Caicos will ever have. She flew on a private jet to the Naples Airport where she was immediately adopted. Patty and Jay Baker frequently fly from the island to Naples and often bring back dogs that need homes. They know just how important these flights are for the survival of these creatures.
“They are overwhelmed with stray dogs,” Patty Baker said. “They can only handle so many. They are sweet lovable dogs. People love them, but a lot of the times the airlines can’t take them, so we offered to take them. It is heartwarming. It always takes a little piece of my heart.”
Potcake puppies
Potcakes are mixed breed dogs from the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos and also common in Puerto Rico. They get their name from a traditional Caribbean dish of seasoned rice, peas, and meat. The hardened and overcooked scraps would stick to the bottom of the pot and were called potcake. This crusty residue was fed to the island’s stray dogs. Potcake Place K-9 Rescue on the Turks and Caicos, Bahamas Humane Society and the Sato Project in Puerto Rico are all non-profits trying to find homes for these stray dogs who have an average adult size of 50-70 pounds.
In 2024 the Center for Disease Control ended a rule that allowed dogs from low-risk rabies countries to enter the United States before six months of age. Now all dogs must be six months old and by then, they are too big to fit under the seat and fly on commercial airlines.
“We used to adopt out 500 a year, now it is only five a month,” said Jane Parker-Rauw, founder and executive director of Potcake Place K9 Rescue in the Turks and Caicos. “When the dogs are 6 months of age, 95 percent of them are too big to fit on a plane, so we rely on people like the Bakers.”…