Some trips change your perspective. Others change your heart.
When I boarded my flight to Costa Rica, I thought I was traveling to document a group of dedicated veterinary professionals providing care to animals in remote communities. I expected to film surgeries, observe busy wellness clinics, and capture the incredible work of the Pets Rule Care Project.
What I didn’t expect was to witness a depth of compassion, resilience, heartbreak, and hope that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
This mission quickly became about so much more than veterinary medicine. It became about volunteers using their vacation time to serve strangers, communities with little to no access to care, and two dogs whose stories none of us will ever forget.
Here is what happened during eight unforgettable days in Costa Rica.
✈️ Days 1 & 2: The Journey Begins (And Lesson Number One)
The adventure started in Denver, where I joined team members Geoffrey, Hailey, and Ben before flying to Liberia, Costa Rica.
Before we even took off, Geoffrey had one major worry: nearly all of the mission’s medications, surgical tools, and equipment were packed inside his personal luggage. Clearing customs in Costa Rica was critical. Without those supplies, there would be no clinics.
Thankfully, we cleared customs without a hitch, met up with team members Josh and Mary, and headed to our home base. After settling in over dinner, Geoffrey suddenly realized he’d left his personal suitcase back at the airport—over an hour and a half away! It became our first unexpected adventure of the trip, but the team laughed it off, relaxed, and prepared for the days ahead.
The next morning brought another curveball: a total power outage at our housing. No electricity, no internet, no air conditioning. It forced us all to slow down, unplug, and connect before the rest of the volunteer team arrived.
A Journey Named Jack
By afternoon, we were loaded up and heading toward the ferry to Chira Island. Before we could board, a local family approached our veterinarians carrying a very sick dog.
After a quick exam, the team realized there was nothing more they could do medically. The dog was suffering, and the kindest option was humane euthanasia. Heartbroken, his family made one request: they couldn’t bear to watch his final moments.
The team agreed to bring him across to Chira Island so he wouldn’t be alone.
During the ferry ride, team member Shiloh and I stayed beside him inside our air-conditioned vehicle, keeping him as comfortable as possible. When we arrived on the island, the dog quietly passed away on his own before the procedure could even begin. The team buried him with dignity. His name was Jack.
It was a stark, powerful reminder on day two: veterinary medicine isn’t always about saving lives. Sometimes, it’s about easing suffering and ensuring an animal feels safe in their final moments.
🩺 Days 3 & 4: Transforming a Community Center into a Hospital
Before sunrise on Friday, our team transformed a local community center on Chira Island into a fully functioning veterinary hospital complete with registration, triage, surgery, recovery, and a pharmacy.
Families lined up carrying dogs and cats from all corners of the island. For many of these pets, it was the very first time seeing a veterinarian. By the end of the first day, the team completed 59 spay/neuter surgeries alongside dozens of vaccinations and wellness checks.
Meeting Princessa Tika
Among the patients was a stray female dog brought in by Anna from the local shelter. She had no home, no family, and no one waiting for her.
I named her Princessa Tika.
That night, Princessa slept right beside Anna and me while she waited for surgery the following morning. None of us knew she was about to become the very heart of this entire mission.
When Princessa went under surgery on Saturday, what was supposed to be a routine spay instantly turned into a life-saving procedure. The vets discovered she had recently been pregnant; a deceased puppy remained inside her uterus, causing a severe infection that would have soon killed her.
The team cleared the infection and she recovered in the shade beside us. But later that afternoon, team member Bri noticed Princessa was in severe distress. Within seconds, the team shifted gears and rushed her back into emergency surgery. She was bleeding internally.
Through the incredible skill of our veterinary team, Princessa survived a second time.
By the time the Chira Island clinic wrapped, the team had completed over 100 surgeries and 30 wellness visits. That evening, while some of the team celebrated a hard week’s work, I stayed behind in the quiet with Princessa. She had been through too much to spend another night alone.
🦮 Days 5 & 6: House Calls, Mosquitoes, and “Family Meetings”
On Sunday, we packed up and took the ferry back to the mainland, bringing Princessa with us to Guyabo Animal Rescue so she could continue recovering. Secretly, I was already making plans in my head to bring her home with me to Arizona.
Over the next two days, the team operated mobile vaccination and deworming clinics near the Nicaragua border, traveling directly into remote neighborhoods.
The work went far beyond traditional clinic walls. We made house calls to families who couldn’t transport their animals:
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We visited a family welcoming us into their home, where their children greeted us warmly alongside a child in a wheelchair. After treating their dog, team members quietly slipped back later that afternoon with snacks, candy for the kids, and essential household supplies.
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We made another house call to a man in a wheelchair, where team members Geoffrey, Peter, and Shiloh worked through swarms of mosquitoes to safely vaccinate a protective dog.
The Mystery at Guyabo
On Monday evening, we returned to Guyabo to find Princessa missing. Her room door was open, and the exterior door to the house was standing wide.
Panic set in. Everyone fanned out to search, and I eventually found her outside, surrounded by barking dogs—shaken, but thankfully unharmed. Given how the doors latched, we realized she couldn’t have opened them herself.
That night, our team gathered for a “family meeting.” Wanting to ensure everyone felt secure and rested for the final push, we made the collective decision to move to a nearby space the following evening.
💔 Days 7 & 8: The Hardest Goodbyes
By Tuesday, our final clinic day wrapped up with hundreds more animals vaccinated, treated, and cared for (along with two memorable cat escape attempts!).
On Wednesday, while part of the team took a well-deserved day to visit nearby hot springs and waterfalls, I traveled to Nosara to arrange Princessa’s long-term care. Because she needed at least two weeks to fully recover before she could be cleared for international travel to the U.S., I left her in the loving hands of local rescue partners Luis and Mailyn.
Leaving her behind was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but I left with a heart full of hope for her future in Arizona.
An Unexpected Message
The next morning, my phone buzzed with a message from Mailyn.
Princessa had passed away during the night.
Her body had simply endured too much. She had survived the streets, a deadly uterine infection, emergency surgery, and internal bleeding—but despite all the love, expertise, and hope in the world, her little body couldn’t hold on any longer.
As heartbreaking as it was, I found deep comfort in one truth: Princessa did not die alone.
In her final days, she experienced what every single animal on this planet deserves. She was safe. She was fought for. She was deeply loved. She mattered.
🐾 What I’ll Carry With Me
Over eight days in Costa Rica, I watched an extraordinary team of veterinarians and technicians pour every ounce of their skill, energy, and spirit into helping animals and the people who love them.
The numbers from this trip are staggering:
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100+ spay and neuter surgeries completed on Chira Island
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300+ animals vaccinated and examined across remote communities
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Dozens of emergency interventions, house calls, and deworming treatments
But numbers don’t tell the real story.
The real story is about people using their vacation days to serve strangers. It’s about comforting a dog named Jack on a ferry ride so he didn’t have to be afraid. It’s about wading through mosquito clouds to treat a dog whose owner couldn’t leave his wheelchair. It’s about celebrating victories together and weeping through losses together.
This trip will forever be dedicated to Jack and Princessa Tika. Although we couldn’t save their physical bodies, we gave them dignity, compassion, and love.
I arrived in Costa Rica expecting to document veterinary medicine. I left understanding that the heart of this work isn’t measured by surgery counts or vaccine tallies. It’s measured by the lives touched, the suffering eased, and the unwavering belief that every single animal—no matter their story—is worthy of love.
That is the legacy of the Pets Rule Care Project. I am forever grateful to have walked alongside the Pets Rule Care Team on this journey to Costa Rica. 🐶❤️
Written by: Beke Lubeach, CEO
DOGTV
To learn more about the Pets Rule Care Project or to support their ongoing lifesaving clinic work across the globe, visit their website. Stay tuned to DOGTV for upcoming specials and feature stories.