While in Puerto Rico, our team connects with our shelter El Faro de Los Animales and spearheads on-the-ground rescue efforts. The local community gives us tips regarding where to find dogs who have been abandoned or injured, given birth or are nursing puppies. Once the dogs are in our possession, they go through intake, including sterilization, vaccinations, necessary medical treatments, deworming, grooming, behavioral assessments and - most importantly - lots of love.
Once our satos are healthy and happy, they are ready to travel to NYC! Here in the city, our network of incredible volunteers works tirelessly until we find each sato his/her unique “furever home.” In a nutshell, this includes performing intake after their arrival, transporting them from the airport, and getting them wellness checks by our network of veterinarians and vet techs. We screen adoption applicants, arrange foster homes, and manage adoption events. In many ways, our team works a second full-time job with this volunteer work; but we all agree that the moment we see those satos smiling with their “furever families,” it’s totally worth it.
our team:
HARRY LEFF
chairman of the board
Harry adopted his ALR alumn, Enzo, in 2018 after his first visit to El Faro. He was Enzo’s Freedom Flight to NYC but, after a day spent with him, he knew that he was his match. Harry then joined the Board in 2019 after about two years of becoming increasingly active with adoption events, volunteer training, marketing, and more. He took over as Chairman of the Board in 2023 and has dedicated himself to ensuring that all of our satos see their forever homes!
Julie Sinaw
president/Founder
Julie is a lifelong animal-lover who has devoted most of her adult life to rescuing and advocating for homeless cats and dogs. After a trip to Puerto Rico and witnessing the suffering of dogs first-hand, she put her career on hold to found ALR and spend the next years growing the organization from the ground up. In 2016, Julie returned to her career growing a veterinary tech start-up, while still remaining president of ALR. She dedicates the majority of her time to leading ALR's incredible team of adoption counselors.
LISA LIPPMAN
board member & medical director
Lisa is an accomplished and influential veterinarian here in New York City. When not making house-calls, co-hosting her own podcast, she sits on the board of Animal Lighthouse Rescue. As our medical director, she vets all of our dogs when they arrive in NYC and oversees their medical treatment. She is responsible for keeping our satos healthy! All of the work she does is dedicated to her late-Rhodesian Ridgeback, Chloe.
LAURA SLAYMAN
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Laura started working with ALR in early 2022 as the Director of Operations. She runs our day-to-day operations: whether she’s taking our amazing satos to the vet, planning transports from Puerto Rico, maintaining our foster roster or ensuring that there is constant contact with our volunteers, Laura is making things happen! Laura grew up in Pennsylvania and studied Small Animal Science at Delaware Valley College. She now lives with her husband, son and two dogs.
AManda gay
marketing manager
Amanda came to ALR through our partner, Camp Canine. She fell in love with ALR’s mission and jumped on board. She is involved in all of the creative aspects of ALR - social media marketing, website design, event promotion, graphic design and more! Amanda says that being a part of the ALR team and being able to witness the tangible effect ALR has on the lives of so many dogs and cats has been “life-changing.”
our team at el faro de los animals
Our team in Humacao, Puerto Rico - led by Executive Director Liza Arias pictured above - operates the incredible El Faro de Los Animales, a sanctuary for satos. They rescue, medically care for and rehabilitate these satos before we transport them to New York City. They are an integral part of our life-saving work! Learn more about them here.
our volunteers
Our work depends on the volunteers that follow our satos throughout their entire ALR journey: from picking them up at the airport, to meeting them on “intake nights” for walking and socializing; and from fostering to managing adoption events to taking on the incredible responsibility of finding them homes as adoption counselors: we are a volunteer-run organization, and we couldn’t do it without them! Interested in volunteering? Click here!
