A Lifelong Mission of Rescue
Through her rescue organization, Daphne “Twig” Mowatt ’75 has found homes for thousands of animals.
BY JANA F. BROWN
A quirky little dog named Rico became the catalyst for the decades-long mission of Daphne “Twig” Mowatt ’75 to find homes for abandoned companion animals.
Mowatt first became aware of the epidemic of stray dogs and cats in Puerto Rico when she adopted Rico, a mixed breed pup, from a shelter on the North Shore of Massachusetts. Rico came with a letter about his rescuer and the staggaring conditions for animals in Puerto Rico, prompting Mowatt to reach out to the organization that had facilitated the dog’s journey to a forever home.
“That was my entree into the world of Puerto Rican rescue,” says Mowatt, who lives just outside Boston.
As the new international humane editor for Bark Magazine at the time, Mowatt planned a trip to the island to write about the significant issue of animal overpopulation, abuse and neglect in the U.S. territory. Once there, she connected with Save a Sato (sato is slang for mutt), the rescue that had sent Rico to Massachusetts.
“It was very typical to dump litters of puppies on a beach,” Mowatt explains. “Sadly, that can happen in many places. But in Puerto Rico, there are lots of small, super-vulnerable breeds that aren’t the kinds of dogs that can survive on their own. That just got me, and I wanted to do something to help.”
For a while, Mowatt volunteered with Save a Sato, but she soon realized that to make more of a dent in the problem, she wanted her own platform to address issues beyond rescue efforts and help achieve permanent solutions. In 2008, Mowatt co-founded All Sato Rescue (allsatorescue.org) with Puerto Rican attorney Edilia Vazquez to continue the rescue work that first drew her in, but also to address the root cause of animal abandonment: overpopulation. Partnering with the Humane Society of Puerto Rico, All Sato Rescue has overseen spay/neuter clinics for thousands of dogs and cats.
At the height of its work prior to COVID-19, All Sato Rescue was transporting up to 2,000 dogs a year to U.S. mainland shelters, primarily in the Northeast, to find permanent homes. Those numbers have been cut in half by multiple factors stemming from the aftermath of the pandemic, but Mowatt continues her charge.
As an only child growing up in rural Maine, Mowatt was an animal lover from the start and says her pets, including the many stray cats she brought home, were her “best friends.” She came to St. Paul’s School as a Fourth Former and forged lifelong bonds with many women from her form, whom she still sees regularly. She studied at Columbia School of Journalism; freelanced for The New York Times; and lived at one point in Bogota, Colombia. She recently retired from her day job as a writer for the MITRE Corporation.
Despite the recent setbacks with All Sato’s placement numbers, Mowatt continues to push forward with her mission. She talks about the resilience and loyalty of the dogs she’s helped to place, and how their often traumatic pasts can make them extremely appreciative family members. Mowatt also emphasizes the importance of adopting dogs from shelters, which not only saves the canines’ lives, but also contributes to solving the problem of overpopulation, one dog at a time.
“Many dogs end up in shelters through no fault of their own and deserve a second chance,” Mowatt says. “For us, every single placement is a little victory. My life goal was to make a difference on the grand scheme of Puerto Rico. I’m not sure I can do that, but I can make a difference in some animals’ lives, so that’s what keeps me going.”