"A Dog Starved By His Masters Gate Predicts the Ruin of the State"

Dog abuse, animal cruelty, whatever you want to call it, is on the rise. it has always been part of life, but recently it seems society is witnessing more and more terrible crimes and murderers; who, where do you think got their practice in? despite mans obsession with the macabe, the main focus of this blog is not to exploit or dwell on the suffering of animlas but to share with the world what a few people in a little remote corner of Baja, California, Mexico can do to make a difference in the lives of animals so dear to our hearts.

I have heard of instances of horrendous abuse or neglect: starvations, beatings, fights, torture, burnings, all over this planet. i have heard of instances where dogs are hung and beaten to death in "pinata parties". Dogs and cats burned alive or cooked in ovens. Stabbed to death, suffocated to death, dragged alive for fish bait, electrocuted to death, found frozen to death & stuck to the ground, hung on short chains, bred to death, skinned alive while being strangled, death from heat stroke, and on and on. I dont even want to discuss what goes on in China meat markets or inside animal laboratories worldwide. If reading that made you ill, or made you cry; join my club. While it disgusts and horrifies me too, i would like to focus here instead on the GOOD things happening in one small community. to let people know that in an area where incredible suffering happens every day, there are still people trying to say ENOUGH; stop the madness; to try; one dog or cat, or horse, at a time, to make a small difference in the lives of animals.

now having said that, i will be including a short section toward the end of photos that i think people need to be aware of. Photos that are horrible to look at but need to be seen. im not sure that lot of people truly realize the full extent of animal cruelty that happens every day in every corner of the world. if you have a weak stomach, please skip thru it. In order though, for people to take action, we should all be aware of these goings on.

I Am an Animal Rescuer

My job is to assist God's creatures
I was born with the drive to fulfill their needs
I take in helpless, unwanted, homeless creatures
without planning or selection
I have bought dog food with my last dime
I have patted a mangy head with a bare hand
I have hugged someone vicious and afraid
I have fallen in love a thousand times
And I have cried into the fur of a lifeless body too many times to count
I have Animal Friends and friends who have animal friends
I don't often use the word "pet"
I notice those lost at the road side
And my heart aches
I will hand raise a field mouse
And make friends with a vulture
I know of no creature unworthy of my time
I want to live forever if there aren't animals in Heaven
But I believe there are
Why would God make something so perfect and leave it behind
Some may think we are master of the animals
But the animals have mastered themselves
Something people still haven't learned
War and Abuse make me hurt for the world
But a rescue that makes the news gives me hope for mankind
We are a quiet but determined army
And we are making a difference every day
There is nothing more necessary than warming an orphan
nothing more rewarding than saving a life
No higher recognition than watching them thrive
There is no greater joy than seeing a baby play
who only days ago, was too weak to eat
By the love of those who I've been privileged to rescue
I have been rescued
I know what true unconditional love really is
for I've seen it shining in the eyes of so many
Grateful for so little
I am an Animal Rescuer
My work is never done
My home is never quiet
My wallet is always empty
But my heart is always full

Ah Mexico! Land of Beggars & Thieves (and dogs)

This blog is mainly being created to document the daily plight of dogs, cats and other animals in Baja California Mexico; where i live. Now that doesnt mean I might not, every so often, go off in tangents and talk about other related things. im a writer, thats what i do. In many parts of Mexico, dogs and cats are thrown away in trash cans and left to die on street corners and landfills. Once a female reaches her prime, she (and her pups in alot of cases) are discarded in sealed up plastic bags and left to suffocate, just like the sunday paper. Oddly, many pets are abandoned to fend for themselves in the street, as their owner no longer wants them or can afford them. i have found abandoned animals who will stay at the abandon site for days on end, simply waiting for the return of their beloved owner, no matter how horrible the owner treated it. Even when a pet is loved, the animal is not cared for under typical U.S. standards; most dogs are acquired to be used as guards, chained to a tree 24/7 in all kinds of weather, with barely enough food and water to sustain life. theres a dog near here, chained on a very short leash to a tree, and i have never in 3 years, seen the dog off the chain. Once i saw it fighting its chain as if in a fit of rage. During winters rainy season, when temperatures can & do dip down into the 40's; the dog lives in wet mud and cold pouring rain, soaked to its bones, there is no dog house or shelter of any kind within its reach. i rarely see any sign of food or water. i have to drive past this dog on my way into town, really its a good $$ saver for me, as i will actually avoid the trip so i dont have to see it.

People are just not educated. This culture has not placed any importance on animal welfare. Dogs are the lowest form of life. Someone has to educate the children in school, at a young age, or it will not change. Sadly, this problem is more widespread and common than most people think, in most third world countries the situation is very much the same. i have heard of live puppies used for shark bait, in remote islands off the south of Africa. i have seen the large hooks thru snouts and paws of very much alive dogs. in my opinion, some dogs just dont get any respect. they have no rights. Why is it that we humans consider ourselves better than the animals? i think it would be way cool if strays could eat some of our horrible criminals, you know the murderers, rapists, wall street execs, etc?!

Under the best of circumstances, left alone to struggle for survival in a lawless environment - where most of its citizens struggle for their own daily survival; a dog can expect to be hit by a car, die of starvation, or worse. When the Ensenada pound natzis come thru here, they are rounded up, beaten into submission, then taken to a chamber of horrors. And the dogs know.

The pound natzis will drive thru our residential neighborhoods and attempt to grab any dog that is outside, not attended to, walking, eating, foraging for food, just sitting minding its own business, anyones pet, no matter if collared or not. Once about 2 years ago my husband saw the guys trying to round up a beautiful lab named Blanco, who is owned by George -one of the a local drunks. so Blanco was a bit neglected; but Blanco loved George and would follow that man anywhere. The men attempted to rope Blancos neck but Blanco fought and refused to be caught. This was a smart dog. Eventually the men gave up thankfully. George dissapeared and was never heard from again (i swear this story is true even though it sounds like a bad Louis Lamour novel) and Blanco still roams the streets to this day, this is a survivor.

The Ensenada (town just 20 mins away from me) dog pound is a cruel horrible place; one i have avoided on purpose because i know i will not handle it well. My fellow dog loving friends who have visited there to feed and give the dogs a bit of attention, have described the barbaric condiditons. Once a dog is brought there, they are beaten on a regular basis. I imagine the dogs do not like it there and try to escape, bite their captors, etc. The cries and screams must be constant and horrendous. they are starved and given no food or water, as the macho male employees think it rather counterproductive to feed a animal destined to die anyway; nor can they afford it. I dont know if the pounds are federally funded or privatized. The dog will stay for about a week, if it survives that long. the cages are dirty filthy; filled with excrement and urine. Any dog needing medical attention is totally ignored. Every Friday morning, in fact, as i am writing this post (my stomach turns in knots on Friday mornings) the dogs are rounded up and electrocuted until they drop over and die. That is all the info i wanted to hear, i'm sure theres more torture that goes on. As i said, dogs are lower than life to these pound people.



My husband Dann and i moved to Baja from Denver, 3 years ago; we needed to escape the rat race. We hated the direction America was going, but I also hated what I saw when we first got here. My first negative impression of this place was the dead animal i saw lying on the road, the day we pulled in. I think it was a dog, in fact on second glance, yes, it was a dog. i couldnt beleive my eyes! a dead dog, flat, lying dead and decaying, rotting and stinking up the air. We saw really short men, women and children begging at stop lights, street corners and taco stands, but nothing compared to the sight of a helpless dead dog or dead puppy. the vision of the dead dog remains in my memory.

After a few weeks i decided to test my adventurous spirit out and take the public micro bus (mee-crow) to the downtown shopping area. never did i think i would come home $100 poorer, a credit card short and a drivers license missing, my entire wallet had been lifted from my backpack. i realized just how desperate people here were and why the dogs are not being taken care of. People can hardly afford their own bare necessities let alone think twice about starving animals all around them.

Only Fur, Nothing Else

during my first week in Baja i must have seen a dozen animal carcasses lying in the road. What im about to describe is explicit and may not be suitable for all readers.

most of the time the dog has been hit by a moving vehicle. If it is fresh kill there may be bright red blood lying about. There is usually guts and body tissue laying near the dog, sometimes the face is smashed beyond recognition, blood will ususally be hemorraging from the mouth. You can drive by the same spot 3 days later and the poor creature will still be lying there. AFter several weeks the carcass begins to disinegrate from the sun, and decomposure sets in. Or another stray will eat it- so hungry they are. The body bloats and four extremties will extend up in the air. noone cares to pick up the remains. One i saw a large Marmaduke looking dog right in the middle of a busy 3 lane road in the center of a heavily trafficked, very civlized, modern, shopping district. my husband says its a quick death but i tend to disagree. Cars were swerving to avoid hitting it. Noone made any attempts to remove the body.

after a few months the carcass has disintegrated and there will be a smack of fur lying in the spot. Just fur nothing else. So you know a dog has died there. i have seen small dogs, puppies and large dogs, cats, a horse, once a donkey too. The horse had to be carried off in a bulldozer. At least it got some respect and maybe was carried away hopefully for a proper burial. Doubtful.

after a few weeks, we were settling into a routine i began to notice the sheer numbers of dogs roaming the streets, sideyards, fields, parks, store parking lots, trash can locations. But what hit me the hardest was the condition of all the dogs. Emaciation. Starvation. Meatless bones. Ribs. Bloody sores. Mange. Skin infections. Alot of these dogs cannot even sit down due to pain of bloodied skin sores and bone deficiencies.

one day i saw a dog that didnt even look like a dog anymore. it looked like a horror movie prop. her eyes were bloody, it was totally hairless with bloodied scabs and open sores covered its entire body. it could barely walk nor sit. it was mostly bones. a skeleton only. i doubt it could lay down without pain. one day i went one day to give it a bone. it would not approach out of fear. i left the bone in the road. another more able bodied stray probably got to it first. i never saw the dog after that day.

i knew then that i had to do something to help get these dogs off the streets.

CARE Cantu Animal Rescue Effort

I am the secretary of a local animal rescue league here in my neighborhood, thats me in the picture- back row, 3rd from left, in pink, at our first annual fundraiser. We had a HUGE, Gargantuous yard sale, we made $3,000 dollars!! Those funds wil be used for sterilizations, adoptions, medicines, the CARE house rent, and many other uses. We pull neglected, abandoned, sick, homeless animals off the streets. Horses, cats, dogs, ducks, birds, burros, chickens, it doesnt matter. We take rehabilitated animals up to San Diego for adoptions to PetSmart. We spay/neuter and return to the streets if need be. At least they wont be making more. We euthanize animals too far gone to eliminate their suffering. We intervene with veterinarians to administer medications. We do everything we can to eliminate animal cruelty and suffering. We educate school children, who have grown up thinking its ok to tie up the family pet 24/7, to an outside fence post. I am very proud to be part of this wonderful group of rescuers. I simply cannot do rescues anymore by myself.

C.A.R.E. Cantu Animal Rescue Effort

This Old English Sheep dog and her 3 pups were found tied up in someone's yard about 1 month ago. The mother was underfed with an eye infection and very matted. She was being used to breed and the owner was tired of her and gave her away to us when we asked about her. However, he charged us $20 apiece for each of the three pups. The pups were also skinny and one had a severe eye infection. This Old English Sheep dog and her 3 pups were found tied up in someone's yard about 1 month ago. The mother was underfed with an eye infection and very matted. She was being used to breed and the owner was tired of her and gave her away to us when we asked about her. However, he charged us $20 apiece for each of the three pups. The pups were also skinny and one had a severe eye infection.

Since this breed is very high maintenance, we did not want to place them with any local families who have few resources. We contacted an Old English
Sheep Dog Rescue Organization in Southern California. They agreed to meet us in San Diego and take over their care. The dogs were vaccinated and we transported them to San Diego. Unfortunately two of the puppies were very sluggish and they died within a day of transferring them. It is still not known why they died. The third puppy was found to have a thistle in her eye which was removed and we're hoping her vision will not be permanently affected. The mommy was very weak and had a thistle embedded in one of her
paws. They are both healing well. The rescue organization will be keeping them and providing medical care, vision care and sterilizations (once they are both healthy). The mommy is estimated to be about 10. There are waiting lists for this breed in the states so we're sure they'll be placed in loving homes.

AT the End of the Day, Dogs really ARE just pretty helpless

i beleive that people can change their world, they have choices they can execute to better their life, better their situations. Does a dog or a cat have this option? i don't believe so. They really are helpless little creatures, totally dependent on humans to have real quality of life. They look up to us and depend on us. If a dog is sick, can it take itself to the vet? if a human is sick, it can take itself to the emergency room. if a dog hurts, can it talk to anyone to describe where it hurts? If its hungry, does it have a way to let someone know (ok ok, you get the point)...

dogs are hopeful, pure, genuine, patient, faithful, innocent, loyal, pleasing, obedient creatures who only want to please their master. How can a human being deliberately harm these beautiful souls? Imagine a dog, alone and neglected, chained up in some nasty dirty cold frozen backyard. The owner never acknowledges its presence. Feeding is sparse and inconsistent. Yet that dog will always wag its tail in hopes and anticiaption that its human will show it some attention. But time and time again, its is ignored. Is there anything more heartbreaking? and what kills me is that they can lay in wait for more torture, their loyalty is so strong. a dogs patience and willingness to wait on its master is astonshing and heartbreaking. They do not demand much, and when they get nothing, they still wait in hopes for something. For me, this is the saddest thing i can ever think of, unless its a human baby or child in that situation.

Mercedes

The photos above, my rottweiler mix Mercede Marie (aka Sadie Marie) is my own first rescue dog, and the love of my life. Mercedes came to me one day - i did not look for her. For this reason, i beleive therefore, i was destined to help animals. She was 8 weeks old and the most gorgeous puppy i had ever laid eyes on. I was at work that day, and a customer, a friend, came in with Sadie on her arm. She had found her up in the hills above our community, the last of several pups who had already died, probably we guessed from predators. (mountain lions and coyote are known to inhabit the hills high above us) She was sitting on her forearm and pretty much not moving. She didnt look starved, but i could not refuse that beautiful face, she looked like a tiny racoon. in fact i started out calling her Bandita, but later decided i didnt like it. I can't imagine my life without her in it. At 3, she is extremely playful. She wants to play every minute and its exhausting! I heard that pets take on the personalities of their owners. I believe this is true; she is very childish and silly. She has a fun sense of humor. She loves to play, she is just like a little kid. Seriously, exactly like a child. All i have to do is say "go for a walk?" and she is up and running to the door, tail up, ears at the ready, eyes bright, snapppy and shining with delight. I love her more than words can say.

i have a huge obstacle to my rescue efforts, because my husband is not a dog friendly person. he told me from the get go, that we were not to have dogs. Well, you know us women, we always think we can change our men. i didnt think this little creature, so tiny and sweetly gentle, could make any difference in our lifestyle. i mean what harm would she do. Little did i know she would turn out to be a 60 pound force to be reckoned with and the catalyst that turned my life upside down and in a direction that would forever change me as a person.

RAMA Animal Shelter- a dream that would never be...

I have personally rescued and re-homed over 25 dogs all by myself, in Baja since moving here from Denver, 3 years ago. I truly have lost count. it may be more! I have a friend here named Connie that was doing rescues but going about it all wrong. She tried to start a shelter, decided to call it RAMA (Rescate Animales Mejores something or another) but that was such a botched up mess; that she abandoned the idea. i cant really go into details, but with little money and no clout, its hard to be a mover and shaker in this country. she basically went into it uninformed and uneducated, but with alot of heart. It takes more than alot of heart, unfortunately, to do good here, or anywhere really. Alot of the dogs up there were dying of Parvo and other untreated diseases she knew nothing about. She asked me for help to build the shelter, and i did what i could, knowing secretly that in the end, it would never work. Water supply was a huge issue, its a precious commodity here. Lack of clean facilities were another, the property the shelter sat on was a donation and pretty much a vacant lot, once used to house chickens. it was dirty. Falling apart. Sloping terrain, (it was up in the hills where my dog Sadie was found, in fact Connie is the person who found her) making it difficult to build cages.

Long story short, Connie, an animal HOARDER, with her big dog heart, tried to bring too many animals up there in too short a time, (she was WAY too anxious) without the proper permits, preparations, and groundwork, and many animals died as a result. she pissed off alot of locals who funded her efforts, and she went into isolation after that.

anyhow, i had to give her credit however, for the thought, the attempt, the work she did put into it, but i knew it was lost cause and something more was needed to be done.

A Day Never Goes By.....

Today i went to town (Ensenada - about a 20 minute drive) to run errands. Upon arrival at my destination, the first thing i see is a mangy stray walking about, probably to no particular place. Usually these strays are just out foraging for food or walking to just releive boredom. Later i see the stray amongst a pack of equally mangy strays, following what looked like a homeless man; but i knew in my heart this was not their owner, they were just following the man, maybe in hopes he would lead them to food or maybe in hopes he would show them a little kindness. But, most men here dont show kindness to strays, they are rather a daily nuisance to contend with, a non issue as far as they are concerned.

A day never goes by in Baja that one does not see a stray dog walking about. some of them you see over and over, some for the first time - like todays sighting. I wonder how there could possibly be so many dogs in the world. But I feel a bit better seeing the same ones every day, for i know somehow they're survivng, avoiding the pound natzis, free to do as they please, and not being chained up living in a hell we can only imagine.

After living here for awhile, everyone comes to the sad realization that you cant save the world, you cant save all of them, no matter how much you want to. i finally concluded that all i can do is help one at a time. My husband keeps saying "what a waste of time" or "you're not helping anything" which only fuels the fire within me to do more. i begin to wonder why in the hell im not helping PEOPLE instead of dogs. but then, People, i think, are the cause of this plague, and so why bother, besides, i'd rather spend my day with a doggie than anything else.

Wild Dogs Unite

Not too long ago, our community was alerted to the threat of a pack of wild dogs, who were attacking humans and killing pets. the pack was being fed by a few local dog lovers, for many months, they were young dogs. The residents began to blame the feeders for their irresponisibility, for creating monsters by enabling pack behavior to get out of hand. This was not the feeders desire at the time they began feeding the pack. They were simply being kind to dogs. They were not a pack in the beginnning. One by one, stray dogs joined up with the group to form the large pack. The residents banded together and decided to pay a Mexican guy to put the pack down, for they were a real danger. Noone could corral the large herd of dogs, so the Mexican decided the easiest way was poison. These dogs were like pets to the people who fed them. (i was not included in this group thankfully)

Poison is a very painful way to die. the dogs suffer excruciating, intense pain and for a long time, before succumbing. I was infuriated. I let everyone know. i was not the most popular person for doing so; but i did'nt care. The residents claimed they tried everything they could think of to stop the killing and attacks, even tranquilizing the dogs so they could be euthanized humanely. They decided that was impossible due to the sheer amount of animals and their aggressive behavior. Hey, just another day in Paradise.

Dog Whisperer

i dont know exactly what it is about dogs that intrigues me so much. I feel such a strong connection that it scares me, i feel like a dog myself at times. i feel like the female equivalent of Ceasar Chavez, the Dog Whisperer; i can train a dog in a few hours to do just about anything. My husband thinks i am really off my rocker.
all a dog has to do is look at me with those big, brown, sad eyes and im hooked.

my dog Sadie talks. she grunts and groans and can almost speak to me. Whenever i bring home a stray, she is extremely jealous and lets me know. i do my best to show her more attention. She is real sweet and gentle with them, but sometimes she will growl and snarl if the stray comes too close to me. I love her so much.

Coco and her Pups - The Trash Pit Family

A friend of mine opened up a Starbucks type coffee shop and asked me to help which i started to do oh, around june of last year. One day the friend, Hideyo, started feeding a very mangy, ugly, sick, dying, black, terrier looking dog. The dog was foaming at the mouth, so i figured she had rabies. She came to eat every day. she was a very very sweet girl. at first she would not come near anyone. if you snapped your fingers she would run the other way. if you let out the slightest noise she went scampering off in the other direction. it was so sad! clearly a sign of abuse of some form. sad, because she didnt deserve that. she was SO sweet. well after a while, she still came every day, at the same time. She began to lay behind our cars, for shade. i was scared someone would run her over. noone did, she seemed to be very smart that way; always leaving the car right before it would drive off. i began little by little, to fall in love with the little black terrier, a breed i dont normally go for. she had greyish black hair, what little there was. She was clearly dehydrated. After a month or two she began to come closer to us, and let us feed her by hand. What an accomplishment! wow!

Hideyo decided she couldnt stand the mangy fleas on her anymore and began to pick the fleas off one by one, with her bare hands. i still didnt want to touch the dog. mange is very contagious. but i saw hideyo doing it, so i began to touch her and pick off fleas too. The dog loved this treatment. she would literally fall asleep, like she was receiving the best massage in the world.

we still hadnt named her, we didnt want to form any sort of permanent bond or get attached, noone was surely going to keep this mangy mutt. But she came day in and day out, never failing to show up for some attention and food. i began to fall in love. i started to worry about her, and come to feed her on my days off. she was always there waiting.

the neighbor next door saw her too and she began throwing scraps out. The neighbor started calling her Baby Girl (dumb name) well thats what we did for a while. Baby girl, baby girl. ok so that was her new name....

dann and i left to go camping for a few days and i asked the neighbor to feed baby girl while i was away; as Hideyo started taking time off and couldnt feed her either in my absence. sure, the neighbor says. When i got back Baby Girl was gone. Now to make this extremely lengthy story as short as possible, Baby girl had 9 puppies while we were away camping and i had not even known she was pregnant.

i was pretty shocked to say the least she was so skinny after all, and concerned about the whereabouts of momma and her pups. i hadnt seen her in days. Then one day there she was - her teets all hanging way low and flappin in the wind as she walked. she ate, whatever she could find, then she saw me and wanted to follow my car home. she began to run after me. (while i was driving) i had to drive fast and outrun her. i felt horrible and it broke my heart.

i decided the best plan of attack is to try and figure out where the pups are located. this i did by following momma back to her den very stealthily. to accomplish this, i had to throw rocks at her. because if i didnt, she would just follow me and not go back to her den. this broke my heart so bad i wanted to cry. Every 10 feet or so she would turn to look at me with those sad pleading eyes, as if to say "Why, why are you doing this to me?"

but in the end, this worked. i threw a rock and she winced, ran forward and looked back at me, continuing to slink toward her pups. but she would keep looking back at me as if to ask why are you forsaking me?? "i just want to go with you!" and i would throw a rock at her. i cried. this hurt me terribly. reminded me of a time when i had to leave my own 2 children behind once. Eventually she led me straight to the den. this took an agonizing 1/2 hour!! so i get there and discover the pups are living under a very wide, low lying, gnarly, prickly bush, right on the edge of a 8 foot deep trash pit. SMART SMART momma. this was for their protection against predators. what a horrible place, there's trash and garbage and nails and glass lying everywhere, toilets, junk cars, clothes, washers, nasty nasty shit. i even saw a mouse. yikes!


so begins the puppy segment, i took care of those pups for 4 weeks at that location till they grew so big and started walking and exploring and eventually falling into the deep trash pit, and hurting themselves. They would fall in screaming when they landed on their backs. Every day i went to feed them all. momma ran out to greet me, by now she is all over me, not frightened in the least and knows i'm safe and her whole life.

i had to move the pups. one day i got there and 2 pups have dissapeared. Momma moved them as she felt unsafe. i found them and put them all back together. but a few ended up falling in the pit again and getting hurt. i had to make different arrangements so the pups wouldnt go near the pit. i blockaded that side off. it worked. but as the pups were getting larger every day, and there were other sickly dogs dying right near that area, under another tree about 50 feet away, i decided to move the whole lot. where? i didnt know but i knew i had to do it quick.

Mommacita

i've been alerted to a new set of abandoned or lost dogs, living about 20 feet from a roads edge, too close; its a busy busy 2 lane highway, about 3 miles from my house, on the way to town. i go to check it out. i find a mother dog, and her 2 pups. i was told there were more puppies at one time, but now it's down to 2. The pups were scared of me. The location is a bush in which mother has dug out a little den - the pups retreat there whenever i show up. I come to feed and water the family, once a day, maybe every other day, as there are a few other ladies taking provisions also.

i immediately fall in love with mother. She is very sweet, gentle and submissive to me, always falling at my feet belly up, an odd behavior i had yet to understand. I felt as if the dog had an owner at one time, she is very very obedient and not too shy. She is a very pretty beagle mix? who knows really what these dogs are breedwise, but her coloring was unusual. Caramel. i just fell in love with her personality. It was very hard for me to go feed dogs and then have to leave them right there. i wanted to take them all home! i think like a human and wonder if the dog wishes she could go with me. I need to start thinking like a dog. I wonder if she feels teritorial about this dive yet, if removing her would cause uneeded stress or anxiety.

not too long before this set of dogs were discovered, we had extensive wild fires and then a landslide, which displaced hundreds of local families and pets. I wondered if this little family was lost or displaced due to that. i will never know. it doesnt matter, if the owners wanted her, they would have put up flyers, but there were none posted.

i decide after several weeks that i would ask my friend Grace if i could use her yard to stash this family. She has a wonderfully huge yard and a 12 x 12 enclosed area within her fenced in yard with a lovely, big, dog house. Grace herself has 4 or 5 dogs, all rescues. it took some convincing but Grace said yes.

Coco and Pups Get Moved to Foster Home

my wonderful friend Grace. What would i do without this lady. AGAIN she comes to my rescue and lets me stash this fammily away in her yard which is all enclosed, huge, and has a wonderful large 8 x 8 doghouse, that is isolated. but momma is out of her element and a bit frightened, as grace has 3-4 other large dogs. she fiercely protects the pups. she is still mangy and sickly, perhaps just tired from caring for 9 active wiggly puppies; which is a monumental ordeal for any small 20 pound dog.

eventually coco begins to adapt to life in her new surroundings, Dont know how i ended up with the name coco; probably because shes so frikkin ugly that she's actually pretty on the inside i mean; so i figured Coco Channel would work.

coco is a wonderful mother. so much so it makes me cry. much better mother than i ever was. its just instinctual with dogs. they just GET it. they know the right things to do. im enjoying the litle family now and i get to take care of them and feed them, pick up their poo, play with them. they are so adorable, fat and robust; just little round balls of fur.

Why are these people scared to death of dogs?

in my experience, as i take my dog Mercedes on outings with me, here and there, to town, to the segundas, to the beach, to the park, most Mexican people are truly afraid of her. they will swing in wide circles just to avoid the dog. Some children will cry or make a little noise indicating their fright. This is the most gentle dog ever and would not hurt a fly. Ive had her since 8 weeks of age.

i find this very fascinating. and sad. i wish there was something i could do. I try to show the people she is gentle. They will always ask me "Does she bite?" after a while some will eventually bend down to pet her.

Im sure the reason is the sheer number of strays that can get vicious and bold if hungry. they might attack a child or adult if provoked. i can only guess.

Coco saga continues....

Grace doesnt want to adopt Coco once shes without her pups. This is bad news for me. I cannot have 2 dogs in my house, much as i would love to, my hubbie says NO WAY, one is plenty. Damn. im racking my brains to figure out what will happen to Coco in the end.

After the 8 weeks are up, i decide its time to get rid of the pups - take them up to the states to PetSmart Adoption Center. im pretty sick by this time of taking care of them - its a tremendous responsiblity. i have to drive 2-3 times a day down to Graces house; about a 12 mile drive round trip. Coco is exhausted of caring for 9 clingy suckling pups as well. She's ready to be rid of them.

Jessica, my vet and i round up the 9 pups, vaccinate them, mostly at MY expense, i had gotten a few donations from wonderful friends, throw them in my car, and start the long drive up to SanDiego. Nola is the receiving party for any pups we bring up for adoption. We meet her in the parking lot of PetSmart. She takes the pups, we say goodbye, and head back home. PHEW, im relieved and glad to be rid of that responsiblity.

Back at home, im left with the decision as to what to do with Coco now. Shes still a bit mange and flea ridden, so much so that she smells She cries and whines with the misery of it. Grace doesnt want her for several reasons, even though she has the ideal yard and ideal locale. Mainly because shes not very active, shes not feeling well and she's possibly contagious with mange/fleas. i think shes not active only because shes sick and exhausted. She wont play with Graces other dogs and thats what Grace wants, a playmate.

so what i decide to do is take her to my house and nurse her back to health, against my hubbies wishes. But at this point i'm so attached to this dog, i would do anything for her, even if it included divorce at this point! Dann is livid. He hates her. He hates dogs in the house- any dog, no matter how much he loves a dog, he just doesnt want a dog under foot. I, of course, have to have my dogs in the house, they are after all my family. He goes mad. We are constantly fighting over Coco. im at a loss as to what to do. I post messages and pleas to the community for anyone to adopt her. noone answers. if i had offered a million dollars and the dog, noone would have answered, so ugly and unwanted this poor dog is.

im sad, depressed and at my wits end. My relationship with Sadie is changing i can tell. She is very very jealous of Coco, and retreats to seclusion more & more. She was top dog after all for so long. And very very pampered.

Long story short, i ended up with Coco for a long 3-4 months. Grace eventually decided that Yes, she will take Coco after all, she is now healthy and active, playing with other dogs and back to normal. YAY!! this was awesome news. my prayers had been answered.

Coco Update (look at the red glasses!)

I have to admit with my new job i have precious little time to be blog writing. I want to put in an update of Coco and her 9 pups after leaving the foster family. Happy to report that one day at work a lady came in to eat. She saw Coco with me and I watched her watch Coco. I was inrigued. I walked over to talk to her. She began to show interest in Coco because her little dog, a bishon frishe named Buddy had ran away recently. Buddy had been gone for 3 months. Linda was devastated. Coco sensed Lindas attentions, so I gave linda some extra food so she could feed Coco. A bit of an attachment ensued and to make a long story short, Coco is now her furever home.

Jessica, our vet, and I had droven Cocos 8 pups up to San Diego, (one got adopted here locally) in 90 degree heat with no air conditioning. But after some trepidation, we successfully got the pups to their destination. Luckily I had not formed any attachments to the pups. The pups were now safe and happy; waiting to get adopted at PetSmart.

mamacita & pups go to their new home

my wonderful friend, Cecilia comes to the dog rescue. LITERALLY!!! she wants to adopt Mamacita! wowow this is such great news. Cecilia already has several of my rescues and here she wants another. in the meantime, Jessica our vet, and i, take her 2 puppies up to the states for adoption at PetSmart.

What would i do without my awesome friends. thank you Cecilia.

Connies Dog Shack

A week or 2 ago I got a frantic call from my friend Marylyn, another dog lover and rescuer. She was upset because Connie had been turned into the authorities on animal abuse charges and hoarding. She had been unexpectedly taken up to the states, and placed in some mental facility. I was called to her home, which happens to be in my neighborhood, because the Ensenada dog catchers were on their way to Connies, to pick up her 25 plus dogs. Could i come over to grab all the dogs one by one and get them into a truck to safety?

Connies little shack might be 20 feet by 20 feet of uninsulated wooden pallets and mismatched planks of 2 x 4's and plywood scraps. Inside she housed about 20 small dogs and cats and outside - in a small enclosed gated area, about half that size, another 10 or so. The house would reek when you walked by. it was impossible to keep clean. she had no kitchen or laundry room. i dont know if she had fresh water. Every day one would see dirty smelly blankets strung up to dry, on a rope hung from her trees. i presume they were the dogs blankets. The dogs barked constantly and neighbors were upset. the outside dogs were vicious and territorial. Connie kept any stray dogs, cats or kittens or puppies she could find, in her house, in her car, tied up around the neighborhood, in abandoned houses, or fields, or wherever she could. She especialy liked the injured ones, ones that couldnt walk and she outfitted them with little walkers. She had a lot of heart.

who will take care of the dogs

not too long ago, we had a lot of rain here. one day i went to town (Ensenada) which is a 20 minute drive, mas o menas, and on the way i saw a dead dog, bloated like a helium balloon; lying a large puddle of brackish muddy water. That really made me sick. i could barely finish my drive and almost headed back home. I did not want to see anymore.

a person gets to the point eventually where you cant even think about the horrors that go on everyday in our world. it bothers me, i want to do something, anything to help, to make it go away, but its almost impossible. whoever said that all it takes for evil to triumph is for a few good men to do nothing, they were right.