Today I had a bit of a melt down. There is a cultural difference here in Argentina that I have been having a very difficult time with. There are stray dogs. Everywhere. They lie in front of restaurants and sometimes follow you down the street. They're in the parks, lying on doorsteps.
When I first arrived, I questioned my host about it. We had seen them in Buenos Aires as well. Nani said that the stray dogs are not really strays; they are the city's dogs and it is the responsibility of everyone in the city to care for them. She showed me cardboard bedding under shrubbery in the parks. She also told me how people set food out for them and they sometimes get scraps at restaurants. Somehow that didn't appease me.
They have sad eyes. They're homeless. I seldom see them wagging tails. And they are not spayed or neutered, so they keep reproducing. I have told my husband almost every night that we have spoken to please tell our beagle, Belle, how spoiled she is and what a good life she has. I'm so proud that my son and daughter have both adopted dogs from no-kill pet shelters. Turner and Titus both now have good lives. I wish that every dog here in Argentina had a good life.
Walking to classes in the morning and back to the apartment afterwards, is a heartbreaking experience for me. I walk past at least a half dozen dogs in my five or six block walk to the university. For me, it is distresing, but I suppose it's a cultural thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment