Travelers infected with puppy love can mark their travel maps with a new destination on Providenciales, an island located in the Turks & Caicos. Potcake Place has a tropical beach where visitors have the opportunity to hang out with and play with stray puppies.

The island was once overrun with stray dogs that roamed the streets. The abundance of stray dogs became a stigma for the island, and residents, along with visitors, knew something had to happen to clean up the stray population before it escalated too far out of control. As a result, Potcake Place was formed to rescue the strays and provide them with the medical care needed to remain healthy and the personal care necessary to become adoptable.

Potcake Place has a simple mission statement focused on lessening the number of strays and finding adequate homes for them, according to the Potcake Place website.

“To reduce the number of homeless potcakes on the island”

The puppies, aptly named potcakes, are rescued from the Turks and Caicos islands. Each has been found wandering the islands, whether by staff or visitors to the island who hope to get them off the streets for their own safety. Due to the small size of the islands and the abundance of dogs, most have a fully grown size of about 45 pounds, but they can range from 35 pounds to 75 pounds depending on the breed.

According to Metro, Potcake Place typically has about 50 to 70 puppies in their care at any time. Rather than allow potential adopters to visit them, the staff will often take the puppies out to the beach and show them off to the vacationers who are relaxing in the sun. The puppies are usually out on the beach until about 1 p.m. each day, wandering around while hoping to find their forever homes.

Potcake Place relies heavily on donations for its day to day operations. However, in return, any individual that adopts a puppy receives the pick of the litter and a puppy beginner kit to get them started with their new furry friend.

Even if the beach goers don’t give in and adopt a new puppy family member, the cuddles and pets each of the puppies receive are therapeutic for the dogs, whose lives began on the streets with no hope for companionship or proper health. The joy on the faces of the puppies and the wag in their tails show that the puppies are happy with their new lives and hopeful for a new forever home.

Potcake Place not only survives on donations, which can be made via PayPal on their website, but also through volunteers who live on the Providenciales.

The average stay at Potcake Place for the puppies is only about two to three weeks before the puppies are adopted by visitors to the islands. To adopt a Potcake Place puppy, a new puppy parent does not need to visit the island. Instead, the individual can visit the Potcake Place website and fill out an application form. There is no cost for the adoption, but donations are requested to assist in paying for the care the puppies received, including vaccinations and spay or neutering. In addition, flying the puppy to the United States or Canada costs anywhere from $60 to $200, and additional costs may be associated with the need for a courier if you are not visiting the island.

How would you feel if you visited an island full of puppies, many of which are begging for your love and a chance at adoption? Would you travel home with a new pup in tow?

[Image via Sobaka777/Shutterstock]