The dogs of Santiago

That Santiago has a dog problem is not really a secret. Nor is it the first time that we are writing on this. Remember the stories of Mario,  Coffee or Margarita? Many locals don’t know that it is a problem, or play it down or try not to think about it. But then I guess many folks from over here simply haven't enjoyed the luxury of travelling outside South America very much and therefore may not have had the chance to experience that dog poop everywhere or sick animals in the street is definitely not normal.

We picked up Knut and Chloe a couple of weeks ago while on a walk in the mountains near El Arrayan and, although we cannot keep them due to time and space constraints, we have been nurturing them back to health over the last couple of weeks. They were very dehydrated, hadn’t eaten for days and had some nasty parasites causing serious diarrhea. 

Chloe (a 12 month old German Short Haired Pointer) and Knut/Luis (a 3 month old Labrador cross) the day we found them

Except for our side of town (which is a bit more "up market"), Santiago has street dogs everywhere. Some of these dogs actually have owners who helpfully(!) open the door of the house in the morning and let them roam all day. The result is broken rubbish bags, unwanted noise, some run over dogs and yes: more puppies because... well, what do you think these dogs are up to while roaming the streets all day (...using condoms?) apart from dumping their poop everywhere?! Needless to say that people often don't sterilise "their" pets, and plenty of people (some vets included!) seem to have the bizarre notion that it is necessary to cross your dog at least once or otherwise they go mad – probably like those women and men without children, all mad (...I am being sarcastic now)!

Sterilise your dog and be a responsible owner to help avoid this

In addition, we are also in absolute shock horror at how many people use dogs as a fashion accessory. How many times have we heard comments like "... I like this or that breed of dog" (picture big macho type guy referring to a pitbull or make-up loaded shopoholic housewife referring to a chihuahua). Dogs are alive and have feelings, they are not handbags nor manbags, nor penis extensions, nor a child that won't ever grow up, nor are they for your neighbours to comment on how nice looking they are.  The other side of that very same coin is that there are many dogs which are "less desirable". For example, if the street dog is not a puppy, is black, is not of a particular breed, not 100% healthy or not "beautiful", its chances of survival in this environment will be slim. Seriously! – black cats and dogs in Chile have worse chances... just another form of racism!

Why buy a pure breed puppy when there are plenty of deserving dogs in the street who need love and resources?

But even if the dog is a puppy, any other colour than black and of this or that particular desirable breed… well, even then it may or may not have a happy ending: There are lots of owners that get bored of the dog as soon as it grows up, breaks some things, or simply when they realise after a while that it is a lot of hard work, needs training, got pregnant, or a million of other reasons. Also, the number of adverts of people moving home and needing to get rid of their pets are shocking (and these are the nice ones that actually bother to advertise it instead of just dumping them in the streets). Do they do this with children too?!

Let’s take the feelings out of the issue and reduce this to a simple problem with 2 parts: 

1. Number of dogs and number of households with availability to look after 1 or more dogs.
2. Defining what looking after a dog entails

Part 1 is very simple: clearly there are more dogs in the street than available households (otherwise there would not be street dogs?!). Breeding your dog is therefore very irresponsible if you care about dogs.

For every dog that is born another dies on the street, this is simple maths: adding up and taking away, offer and demand. Really, it is not rocket science: your puppy is taking a household which could be used for another dog that already existed before you decided to cross your dog. If you buy a puppy, you are also encouraging someone to make a living out of making the dog population larger (i.e. more puppies = more dead dogs in the street as there are less available households to look after these dogs). Chloe has had already several offers for adoption, most of which wanted to make her a breeding machine. Once, someone who considered adopting her eventually decided against it because they preferred to cross the dog they've got already and keep one of the puppies instead. Needless to say that Chloe was one of such puppies only about 12 months ago. How many of those puppies will be in Chloe's situation 12 months from now? It is therefore essential that she is sterilized before she is given away for adoption.

Part 2: Being a responsible dog carer involves the following

• Making a commitment to understanding the dog’s needs before adopting any dog: how much space do you have? How much time do you have? What will you do with them when you go on holiday? How much money do you have? Will you be able to pay for its vet bills? Will you be able to train it? Will you be able to entertain it? Will you be able to provide enough exercise for your dog? Not all dogs are the same. Some dogs need a lot of space and exercise (this is regardless of their size, Mario and Pfiffi are both medium sized dogs but they need to run every day), younger dogs need a lot more exercise, company and training. If you live in a flat, an old dog may just be what you need (regardless of a puppy being cuter).

• Selecting the right dog. Yes, puppies are cute, but they piss everywhere, bite everything and need a lot of training and attention. Older dogs (like Margarita) are often more suited to flats and have a much harder time finding homes because they are not quite so cute. We adopted Mario when he was between 5 and 7 years old (and that was 4 years ago). He learnt to sit, to stay, to wait for us to serve his food, he can turn, lay down, fetch, stand on 2 legs. You need to train your dog and you can do that with adult dogs, not just puppies. He lays in his bed most of the day but if he doesn’t get a decent run daily, he will start finding ways to entertain himself: he is not evil, he is a smart creature and gets bored.

• Your dog’s poo is not for the street, it is for you to dispose off safely. That entails picking it up and putting it in the bin – and yes, that means that you need to accompany your dog when it uses the public space, opening the door/gate and let it roam is not good enough. Faeces are biological waste and have high risks of transmitting disease. To people as well as other animals.
• Your dog’s barking will (and does) annoy neighbours. Put your dog inside the house at night so that it doesn’t bother other people. Train your dog not to bark (often, enough exercise is a good way of reducing barking).
• Tag your dog, the streets are full of dogs that got lost. It costs very little to provide your animal friend with a tag with your telephone number so that if someone finds your dog, they can return it to you. Ideally you should also chip it.
• Vaccinating, deworming and generally taking care of their health: take your dog to the vet when it needs it. Do not wait several weeks of them spreading disease everywhere before doing something.
• STERILISING: Probably the most important one. Your dog may escape one day and you need to be responsible for them not making the overpopulation problem worse! In addition, for male dogs this has the advantage of reducing the aggression and the chances of the dog getting into fights, the dog marking everywhere, not to mention the embarrassing leg or cushion humping… it is an extremely simple procedure that directly saves lives (the ones of those dogs in the street who would find a home if your dog’s puppies weren’t born).



The pack - With Pfifi, the leader, wondering how long she will be able to keep the situation under control ;o)
(Knut, having gained 2kg in 2 weeks, Pfiffi - the boss, Chloe - "can't stand still" & Mario, not wanting anything to do with dogs) 

Today may have had a happy ending as Knut (aka Luis) found a family who are going to give him a chance! He still has to prove himself and see if he can cohabit with another dog (an 8 year old boxer lady), 5 cats and 2 children. But he is adaptable, and young so hopefully he will have a happy life with them… Apart from the clear feel-good factor, one should not ignore the blatantly obvious fact that Knut finding a home means another doggie somewhere will be left in the street.

The problem needs to be tackled from both ends: don’t breed, don’t buy and sterilise your dog. Always remember that for every dog that is born another dies on the street.

Knut in his new home - now he just needs to learn to get on with the cats

Chloe is still waiting for a loving home... but she has already gained some weight, strength and health and being a beautiful pure breed should help her chances in a place like Santiago.

Chloe well into her recovery and looking for a house with some land