Love and Dogs and Playa del Carmen
Hi Everyone,
As much as I love living in Playa del Carmen, there is one problem that I find so difficult to understand, and that is the treatment of pets here. I guess coming from Canada, where your pets are really a member of the family, it is truly heartbreaking to see owners simply neglect their animals, dogs especially. My neighbour has a dog, Chatta, and he takes wonderful care of her, but unfortunately, he really is the exception. She has become that dog on the street who runs and greets everyone with such love...it's as if she feels like she truly belongs in every house. Actually, there's a vacation rental house on the street and when Chatta's owner is away for the night, you can find her scratching at that door, and sure enough, the vacationers take her in for the night! She is really darling ;)
This is her and I soon after we met :)
And here she is saying hello when our friend and Brian were in the car :)
There are several animal rescue operations here, totally run by volunteers; It is something Brian and I are wanting to get involved with. This is Roja (Spanish for 'red'), and she is the little girl we were looking to adopt. You can see she has a scar on her head, and as unbelievable as it is, that scar is from someone hitting her with a machete. Somehow she survived, and the volunteers call her the miracle dog. Every time we see her, she goes crazy...so excited to see us! She is just so full of love, that I cannot imagine what kind of person would do that!
This little girl is one we feed regularly. It took her a while to trust us, but now when she sees us, she runs and sits at the little corner store, waiting for us to buy her food! She's a doll ;)
Now this little guy is new to our street. A neighbour brought him home, but unfortunately does not take care of him at all; it's actually Chatta who cares for him...like a good mom! Of course when the guy brought him home (we call him 'puppy' ;), the little pup was fat, healthy and oh so cute. Now he's been there for about three weeks and his fur is not the least bit shiny, he's flea ridden and getting way too skinny. So everyday we get him food, and in the evenings I make my way outside to feed him our dinner leftovers and wander around the block to find and feed the others. We are also going to get some flea medication and just give it to him because the poor little guys ears and body are cut up from all his scratching. It's difficult to watch, but it is more difficult to not do anything at all!
Here he is in the basket on my bike. I was testing the waters to see if he would go for a bike ride with me ;)
Like I said earlier, there are obvious exceptions, and some people take great care of their pets, going so far as building some pretty fantastic dog houses. Here are a couple I spotted in people's yards.
I guess like in a lot of places, there are good pet owners and bad pet owners. But what breaks my heart, is that a dog will love you no matter what you do or don't do to them or for them. They'll give you love and ask for nothing in return. They will flourish if they receive that love, but if they don't, they will still continue to give it. That is something that no one should take advantage of!
I'll leave you with a quote from a Persian poet in the 14th Century:
Even after all this time, the Sun never says to the Earth,
"You owe me."
Look what happens with a love like that,
It lights the whole sky.
I would love to hear about your dogs or cats! It warms my heart to hear people talk about just how much they love their pets :)
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I like that Persian quote. :)
Thanks @galenkp! He's got some great poetry and all kinds of quotes that are so applicable today :)
Happy to have you back and to see another aspect of your pure heart! I love animals too.. Even though it has been years since I've had one of my own... I traveled so much it wasn't right to be away from them so much.. But my mom has 2 very cool cats and I grew up with many dogs... My parents bred German Shepards, so I know how loyal and friendly dogs can be!
Which one of these is your favorite? I like this cutie :)
Thank you Dave! You are always full of compliments ;)
Yes they're a big responsibility, so I respect the fact that you're aware and that you don't have one right now. I saw your mom's cat in one of your posts..so cute. And that's cool that your parents bred Shepherds; they are such brilliant dogs!
I love the one you chose as your favourite! She tugs on my heart strings for sure because she warmed up to me, but also because of something I didn't put in the post. The first time I saw her, and she seemed so hungry and her teats were hanging, so obviously she had puppies some where...so I fed her but followed her to see if she had a proper home and to see if the pups were hungry too. We wandered for a bit until she got to a run down gate, with two very drunk guys outside. That turned out to be her house and owner. I asked if the puppies were around, and his only words were "Si. money." laughing hysterically. Kinda broke my heart, because I know she's mistreated. Every time I go to pet her, she flinches. I never did see any puppies, I think the guys had already sold them, but I have a feeling this little girl is simply for breeding. Nice right? :(
I could tell you so many stories about the dogs here, but a lot of them are sad, so I tried to keep the post relatively upbeat. So to answer your question...they are all my favourite :) I often think that when Brian's gone, I'll open a shelter here for all the mistreated dog and cats, and become that really crazy cat/dog lady haha
Love it!!!!
I'm so glad!!
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A very wise looking gaze.
That's exactly what I thought! Whenever I see her, she now recognizes me and her gaze is much more relaxed; this photo was in our getting-to-know-you phase :)
You clearly feel an immense love towards dogs! They are probably the best pet we can have!
Except cats or a fire breathing dragon. :)
Ok I LOVE cats as well, but in the end, I think a dog or cat's got nothin' on a fire breathing dragon haha
Do you watch Game of Thrones by any chance? :)
Yes, we wat h GOT. :)
Who doesn't watch GOT?!
I have been waiting what feels like years for the new season, and just yesterday after watching the new Westworld trailer I googled about GOT to see when its being released and its by next year : (((
I didn't remember the new season wasn't going to be released this year, more waiting I guess.
It is such an awesome show!! but it seems as though it's on for a month and then off again til the following year ;)
I completely agree! I grew up on a farm and always had dogs, but they were "outside" dogs, so although I loved them, it was different. My own dogs have always had the run of the house and I've treated them like my own children!
You just reminded me of a story: One time when my son was a baby, I was attempting the "cry yourself to sleep" thing for the very first time. As a new mom, I was finding it extremely difficult to hear him and not go soothe him, but on my mother-in-law's advice, I was giving it my best shot. I was lying in bed, listening and my dog kept coming to the side of the bed, knocking my arm. Now this dog used to do that when she wanted to get under the covers with me:), so I ignored her. After several minutes of her doing that, she left my room, went across the hall to my son's room, smashed the door open with her head, and layed down in front of his crib! The whole time she was simply alerting me to his sadness. I immediately got up, taking direction from my dog, instead of my mother-in-law, and went to soothe my son ;)
They really are
Thank you for stopping by! And thanks for triggering that memory for me <3
I had a cat do the same thing to me - though I wasn't leaving the child to cry, I just had to get some free-arm time (as in, my arm was killing me!) Anyway, this cat would climb up on the cat furniture behind me and tap my shoulder as if to tell me to take care of my kitten!
And yeah, although my eldest got the harder treatment, the others never even got put in the crib/cot more than as a quick break and when my daughters came along, I didn't even get a new crib!
That's a great story; cats and dogs can be so smart!!
haha that's funny, with each kid we get a bit more lax ;) A bit like with soothers for first born are boiled if they fall on the ground, and by the time the next ones come, they're lucky if they get a quick wipe on a sleeve before passing it right back ;)
That's a beautiful story! And what a smart dog that understood what was happening! Lovely!
Thank you so much @dedicatedguy! I'm glad you enjoyed it :) She really was a brilliant dog :)
Yes I do have an 'immense love towards' them! They really are a wonderful companion:)
I experienced the same surprise when I lived in South America for two years. I couldn't get over how they said they cared about their pets, but would barely provide anything for them and the interactions with them were borderline abuse.
Right?? It's so impossible for me to understand! Even if you're not crazy about them, how can anyone abuse a helpless animal...it just doesn't make sense in my head. I just told @davemccoy a little bit more about one of the dogs in my comment to him; makes me so sad to see it all way too often here.
Thanks for popping by @papacrusher! I appreciate it ;)
Thank you so much for caring for all of these beautiful dogs! You are such a compassionate woman...and when you wrote about how dogs love, it really was touching, and very poignant... :'( :'( <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
Thank you for thinking that! It really is my pleasure to do it...and I'm sure you understand that! When I see in their eyes, that they are starving for not only food, but a little love as well, I just don't understand people not helping them. When any of them come to me with tails wagging and I swear a smile on their face, it's really all the thanks I ever need...such unconditional love! If you want, have a look at some of my responses here because so many people triggered different stories that I think you'd enjoy.
Oh, speaking of smiling dogs, here's my Max, who's been gone for a couple of years now, smiling. It's the face he gave us when he was doing something he shouldn't have been, like tearing apart our garbage. I laughed every time I saw it, which was about a million times over the 13 years he was with me ;)
This is so amazing of you to go out and look after the poor dears. Shame you're probably the highlight of their day. I love my pets and my staffie sleeps with me every night, I can't imagine how to do it any other way and it makes me sad that so many people out there don't treat their pets well. They truly are part of the family and I couldn't imagine my life without them.
I couldn't have said it better myself @jusipassetti!! It just doesn't make sense to me either; if you chose to have a pet, then just take care of it. It should be simple, right??
I'm so glad to hear about your staffie sleeping with you...I love that!! I just left this "story" with someone else here, but your staffie in your bed makes me want to share it with you too:
One time when my son was a baby, I was attempting the "cry yourself to sleep" thing for the very first time. As a new mom, I was finding it extremely difficult to hear him and not go soothe him, but on my mother-in-law's advice, I was giving it my best shot. I was lying in bed, listening and my dog kept coming to the side of the bed, knocking my arm. Now this dog used to do that when she wanted to get under the covers with me:), so I ignored her. After several minutes of her doing that, she left my room, went across the hall to my son's room, smashed the door open with her head, and layed down in front of his crib! The whole time she was simply alerting me to his sadness. I immediately got up, taking direction from my dog, instead of my mother-in-law, and went to soothe my son ;)
Amazing right? :)
I feel the exact same way!
That is such a sweet story and I know dogs can be amazing. They really can sense when you're upset. Yesterday morning I started having panic attacks again and my dog just lay with me the whole day. They just can't help themselves and are a perfect example of unconditional love ❤.
That's it! The unconditional love is like a miracle to me. I'm so glad that your dog is so helpful for you <3 There's nothing like laying in bed and cuddling with your dog!
It's really shameful how often we humans let down our most loyal companions. It's also a reminder to adopt rescue dogs and avoid buying from breeders. So many great, loving rescue pups out there!
It is shameful! They are so loyal regardless of what we do, but unfortunately yes, "humans let them down".
And your point of adopting rescue dogs is a good one! The shelters here are over-flowing, and volunteers, every Thursday, bring some dogs and 'advertise' on the main tourist strip here. It's awesome because they regularly adopt out a dog and ship them home with their new owners :) It really warms my heart!
my heart broke here as I live with one dog because my place is only big enough for one but have 4 other dogs at my mom's place and when I see dogs mistreated it breaks my heart and just want to high five bad pet owners with a steel chair in their face!
hahaha your 'steel chair' comment made me laugh out loud!! but it's so true right??!! Why bother getting an animal if you're not going to take care of it. Drives me crazy!! And you have so many dogs, but you're so aware of what they need, so you're willing to sacrifice having them all, for their benefit!
That's a sign of a really good guy :)
If you look through my comments here, you'll see a lot of different stories about my personal dogs and those here, but I think I might eventually, when I'm on my own, open a dog/cat shelter here for all those innocent little darlings. They deserve a good home after being so mistreated!
Thank you for stopping by Mav, I appreciate it!
Ohhh you could have it Steem funded like TAC. It is one of the projects by The Alliance and Steem Silver and Gold. run by Rhonda K of the Writers block.
oh thank you for that!! I'll have to check it out; I think I've heard about in one of the Discord channels :)
Awwee!! This post squeezes my heart. I love you already! You're an angel to all the dogs who are abused, maltreated and left behind by their owner. I hate those people who maltreated their pets. If they are like that they shouldn't have a pet in the first place.
I want to share a story too.
My parents have an eatery, then there were six thin dogs who always visit there. Both my parents are a dog lover especially my father. So he always feed them then I bought a dog shampoo to kill those unwanted tick and fleas. They became a fat dog with shiny fur. After three weeks, an owner took one and my mom was crying because he will miss him. Another was taken by a dog pound. He was just sleeping approximately 2.5 meters in front of our eatery, basically he's just within the area of our responsibility yet they took him and it was too late for my mom to realize it. The real owner never claimed him. I was so mad. He's so cute. I often visit our eatery yet he knows that I'm the daughter of the couple who always fed him. Then the last one was attempted to be locked up by his owner yet he always finds his way to our eatery and guard it all night.
From six, they are down to four. I missed the other two but still I'm so happy that the four adopted dogs of my parents stayed in our eatery. We also have dogs at home. However, one died last month and 10 days later, another dog of mine died. I was broken for a week. Thankfully, the two left were able to soothe my aching heart.
Now, at home, we have two dogs and just recently, two little kittens living wonderfully together under one roof.
Well after reading that story @kneelyrac, I feel the same about you and your parents ;) You are all "angels" also to dogs who really need one. I too hate that people are capable of mistreating their pets. It really makes no sense to me at all!
I love your story, and I'm so happy about the dogs that your parents feed. Your eatery is their home...I love that, and I'm sure they do too! I am also so sad for the dogs that they were unable to save, and of course for yours who died. It is so difficult to go through, I know!
is a good way to describe the pain :( But you're right, the others will be there to support you as well as the new cute little kittens. We always had cats and dogs and they simply loved each other. It's so beautiful to see, isn't it? :)
Thank you so much for sharing your story, and it was really nice to meet you!
There are lots of strays here in our place. The way we treat them here is far different how you treat them - being part of the family.
A dog lover friend of mine said that feeding dogs once will make them remember that kindness for life. That stayed with me. I haven't had the chance to do that yet but I will surely do it the chance I got.
I have heard that before. I think many cultures view pets differently, and I know some cultures can get kind of crazy dressing up their dogs ect.
I like what your friend said! Dogs are so smart, so I believe they really do remember that. Just imagine if you or I were starving and we were unable to get food ourselves...I would certainly remember the person who fed me, and I'm sure you would too.
If you get a chance to, please do feed them. The love they give in return is really a remarkable thing:)
I was thinking. There are lots of strays in our neighborhood and some owners just let theirs loose sll the time anyway. Most dogs here are big and intimidating. Maybe i should bring with me food and feeding every dog i see. That way I wouldnt fear being bitten.
I'm sure they would love you for it! When I first meet one of these dogs, I just pour some food near it, and back away. But I watch and see how they seem and all of the time I've been able to pet them after they're done eating. But you don't have to do that if you're not comfortable; they'll appreciate the food for sure! That's so nice...I'm glad you are considering doing that :)