For the past few weeks I have had little time to head out to the dog refuge, and I was back there on Saturday to drop off my friends' monthly donations of food. I had picked up 4 other donated bags from other volunteers, and wanted to buy the 16 posts I needed for shade shelters we are going to put up this week, funded through a kind donation in the name of Rico, the little dog I had tried to save from the refuge just over a year ago who recently died.
I had written some time ago that every time I arrived at the refuge there was some sort of drama - real or imagined. I am not there every day nor can I be there very day, and I go for the dogs and I am, I think, somewhat realistic about the impact I can have on these animals. My time and resources are limited. We all do what we can.
Recently both Ralph and a friend had sent me an article that was in the online English language paper. People seemed to be pleased with the initiative. I'm not, and I thought this was a good time to get out a bit of frustration but also some thoughts to share.
In brief, a bunch of guys set up stations to feed the street dogs in Oaxaca, Mexico where I live. OK.
Healthy street dogs means they will get pregnant more often with a higher chance of bigger litters and a higher survival rate. They will be having their litters of puppies on the streets, crating more street dogs. Let's conservatively say out of ten street dogs, 4 are female, and although they can have 3 to 4 litters per year, again, playing a conservative role, let's just say they have 2 litters per year, of, again, conservatively 4 puppies. 4X2X4 = 32. 32 new street dogs. Sure, some may get adopted, and some will die by getting run over by cars. However, I do see an advantage. Having dogs come to reliable food source means that organizations who run sterilization campaigns can also use that reliable food outlet to run street-side sterilization events to try to spay and neuter the dogs that are on the street. Want to fund one? Let me know.
This brings me back to the subject of the refuge and the drama.
The refuge, as I call it, is not a nice place for dogs to be. My view is that they are marginally better there than dead on the road, or beaten by their owners, or suffering tied up without food or water and left to starve. It's called a refuge. It's not a spa. We work hard to keep it clean and the dogs fed and parasites managed and health cared for and mange at bay. I try hard to balance that it is not mine, I go for the dogs, and let's be frank, the woman who does "manage" it cannot read or write and in my uneducated opinion may have some hoarding issues, and cannot say no when someone shows up with a box of 12 puppies or if someone comes in the middle of the night and drops off a dog, tied up by the front and back legs, what is there to do? What are those people miraculously expecting... what?
Tonight I am upset and I am going to tell you what happens. You usually see my posts and my pics and I am smiling and holding up dogs and encouraging you to give/adopt/help and THANK YOU.
But for those of you who donate in other ways. Your dog that is tied up that you left at the entrance to the refuge? Defenseless, tied up, confused. The dogs outside the refuge killed it, because it smelt different and was considered a threat to their food source.
The box of puppies you dropped off. There are at best 4 left, and they may or may not ever be adopted. The lady who runs the refuge didn't/couldn't/wouldn't send you away with those little helpless puppies. So instead when they died, she buried their little bodies or put them in the trash. She did your dirty work for you.
Don't want your dog anymore because it is too big? Don't have enough space? Your new boyfriend/girlfriend doesn't like it? Couldn't be bothered to go get your dog fixed, but somehow you can manage to find the time to drop off the puppies at the refuge? Thanks.
For years, humans have "outsourced" this dirty work, burying our dead, slaughtering our animals for food or profit, and putting an end to something that makes us uncomfortable. I am a little sore tonight in my heart. Spay and neuter your pets. Don't breed them. And if you don't want that pet anymore, bring it to a vet and sacrifice its life. You do it.You. You. You.
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| All these dogs. So little time. |
I had written some time ago that every time I arrived at the refuge there was some sort of drama - real or imagined. I am not there every day nor can I be there very day, and I go for the dogs and I am, I think, somewhat realistic about the impact I can have on these animals. My time and resources are limited. We all do what we can.
Recently both Ralph and a friend had sent me an article that was in the online English language paper. People seemed to be pleased with the initiative. I'm not, and I thought this was a good time to get out a bit of frustration but also some thoughts to share.
In brief, a bunch of guys set up stations to feed the street dogs in Oaxaca, Mexico where I live. OK.
Healthy street dogs means they will get pregnant more often with a higher chance of bigger litters and a higher survival rate. They will be having their litters of puppies on the streets, crating more street dogs. Let's conservatively say out of ten street dogs, 4 are female, and although they can have 3 to 4 litters per year, again, playing a conservative role, let's just say they have 2 litters per year, of, again, conservatively 4 puppies. 4X2X4 = 32. 32 new street dogs. Sure, some may get adopted, and some will die by getting run over by cars. However, I do see an advantage. Having dogs come to reliable food source means that organizations who run sterilization campaigns can also use that reliable food outlet to run street-side sterilization events to try to spay and neuter the dogs that are on the street. Want to fund one? Let me know.
This brings me back to the subject of the refuge and the drama.
The refuge, as I call it, is not a nice place for dogs to be. My view is that they are marginally better there than dead on the road, or beaten by their owners, or suffering tied up without food or water and left to starve. It's called a refuge. It's not a spa. We work hard to keep it clean and the dogs fed and parasites managed and health cared for and mange at bay. I try hard to balance that it is not mine, I go for the dogs, and let's be frank, the woman who does "manage" it cannot read or write and in my uneducated opinion may have some hoarding issues, and cannot say no when someone shows up with a box of 12 puppies or if someone comes in the middle of the night and drops off a dog, tied up by the front and back legs, what is there to do? What are those people miraculously expecting... what?
Tonight I am upset and I am going to tell you what happens. You usually see my posts and my pics and I am smiling and holding up dogs and encouraging you to give/adopt/help and THANK YOU.
But for those of you who donate in other ways. Your dog that is tied up that you left at the entrance to the refuge? Defenseless, tied up, confused. The dogs outside the refuge killed it, because it smelt different and was considered a threat to their food source.
The box of puppies you dropped off. There are at best 4 left, and they may or may not ever be adopted. The lady who runs the refuge didn't/couldn't/wouldn't send you away with those little helpless puppies. So instead when they died, she buried their little bodies or put them in the trash. She did your dirty work for you.
Don't want your dog anymore because it is too big? Don't have enough space? Your new boyfriend/girlfriend doesn't like it? Couldn't be bothered to go get your dog fixed, but somehow you can manage to find the time to drop off the puppies at the refuge? Thanks.
For years, humans have "outsourced" this dirty work, burying our dead, slaughtering our animals for food or profit, and putting an end to something that makes us uncomfortable. I am a little sore tonight in my heart. Spay and neuter your pets. Don't breed them. And if you don't want that pet anymore, bring it to a vet and sacrifice its life. You do it.You. You. You.
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