Slumdogs

Dogs in the US have it pretty good.  Quality and even mediocre pet

owners provide their dogs with a place to sleep, maybe a place to run around, and most importantly, food and water.  I love dogs, and I miss my dog, Button, with my whole heart!  She was the BEST dog in the world, hands down.  I am very against animal cruelty, and I definitely don’t think people should abandon dogs, leave them on the side of the road, or turn them back into the pound when they decide they’d rather travel.  That said, I still think dogs in the US have a pretty posh life compared to dogs in many other countries.  Street dogs abound in “developing countries,” and they’ve always enthralled me.  They have gangs, they find food, they find shelter, they know their way around the city, they relax in the sun, they look both ways when crossing the street (they really do in Mexico, I have witnesses!), they have FB’s (fuck buddies) and just plain buddies.  It’s amazing what dogs can do when left to their own devices.

 

In Mexico City there are millions and millions of dogs.  It’s unclear if the dogs outnumber the people (24 million people in Mexico City) or vice versa.  Either way, it’s a lot of freaking dogs.  I really liked those Mexico City perros.  As I walked through the crowded streets, I felt like we shared a secret. They never attacked people, they didn’t bark much, and for the most part they lived happily beside the people-folk, eating the left-over tacos and chips strewn in the streets.  Of course with that many dogs the unfortunate would occur — dead dogs lying mangled on the side of a road or on periferico (the beltway), or a very obviously sick dog struggling with his last breaths.  Street dogs, however, were certainly not the only dogs sharing the city; dogs are as popular a pet in Mexico as anywhere else.  Many people had dogs, and parks were often packed on weekends with people letting their dogs out for a good jaunt.  What I often found myself wondering was this – what do the street dogs and the house dogs think of each other?  How do they tell each other apart, because I know they can.  Do the house dogs judge the street dogs for being dirty, homeless slumdogs?  Or do the street dogs judge the house dogs for being prissy, wussy, collar-wearing yuppies?  It’s the same global struggle found in every country on earth – the white collars vs. the slumdogs.  I’m just wondering, do dogs participate?

 

The dogs in Bhutan are another story.  Bountiful, to be sure, but not quite as satisfied with their lives on the streets.  They want to be house dogs, and many a dog tried to sneak into the house I was staying at during my time in the Dragon Kingdom.  The funny thing is, there are NO house dogs – no one has a dog as a pet (or any pet), so why do the dogs think they’d be better off as pets, seeing as they have no dogs to compare themselves to?  Man those dogs can bark.  All night long, from every corner of the country, all you can hear is dogs barking, howling, crying.  From near (under the window) to far (deep in the Himalayas) they barked from sundown to sunup.  It really was infuriating, but somehow when I saw the cute little pups running around the next day, I would call off the plan to joyously watch them die after feeding them poison.  You’d think those dogs would be happy and calm – there is weed (mary jane style) growing everywhere….. J

 

Colombia also entertains a large canine population, and similar to Mexico, there is a clear distinction between slumdogs and collar dogs.  Well, that is until it comes to mi suegra – Max’s mom.  Max’s mom LOVES dogs.  All animals really, but she has a special place in her heart for dogs, and if she could, I’m sure she would “rescue” every street dog she came across in Colombia (so about a billion).  Hearing stories from Max, his parents, and his sisters, I know dogs have played a part in their lives forever, and it’s funny to hear about all the different “pets” they’ve had.  The “real” pets have almost always been Weimaraners, the beautiful, strong, blue-gray dogs.  And they’ve always had creative names, such as Tango, Tango 2, Tango Michigan, and Tango Cisneros. (Tango Cisneros is now commonly referred to as Tan-gay).  The “other” pets have been a vast assortment of strays, usually strays that had once been pets but had been abandoned and thus didn’t know how to fend for themselves.  Currently there are 2 – Sara and Candy.  Sara is a gorgeous yellow lab with energy to last a lifetime, while Candy is a dirty little white mutt, with at least a couple of screws loose.   Margarita loves them all, just as they are, which is how I know she’ll love me too – even though I’m just a little white mutt with a few screws loose.