Death or Cake? Death…
Two days ago we were going to work in Camara de Lobos and we say the most miserable sight possible – a little dog in so much pain and suffering and nobody giving a damn. It acutely reminds me of why I left my country and why I never want to live there again. I don’t get the selective vision in people, how they can walk around a creature in so much pain and ignore it. I’ve never been able to get it. People say to me, my closest people, that I should harden up a bit. I wish I could but it breaks my heart just as much as it used to when I was little. I understand why my mum and dad kept me away from the strays – they didn’t want me to witness their suffering and be helpless.
I spent two thirds of my life being helpless about stray animals. And then I met Steve. He has the strongest drive and energetic attitude I have seen. I admire him so much. He helped me realise in practice so many of my dreams. One particular aspect is helping strays. He cares deeply about animals and will turn the world to help them. However, he is also able to keep a level head and not get emotional as fast as me. So, we were walking together, just about to collect some money from some students and there was the dog – it had the most enormous black tumor you can imagine. He was laying there in plain sight and none of the passers by was at all bothered. The ‘student’ we were meeting was so narrow-minded and unintelligent that she thought the tumor was a puppy. How can a puppy hang out the side of a dog’s stomach? And even so, if there is a problematic birth, don’t you care?! Steve was boiling inside, I could see he was going to say or do something rash and I was completely devastated. And again the feeling of hopelessness crept in – the feeling that again I live in a country that doesn’t give a damn about anything but human supremacy.
We managed to compose ourselves and try to think of a solution – we don’t have a car and no taxi would put a dirty filthy street mutt with a blood sack on its side in his car. I say his car because of course the concept of a female driver is completely foreign on these shores. Both sexes here are of the opinion that women are best suited for the kitchen and the nursery… Oh it makes my blood boil. I have never thought that the Portuguese are so backward. I thought that there aren’t more backward people in Europe than the Bulgarians but there you go, evidence to the contrary that we may not be the worst in the EU. I’m not sure this is a reason for pride for either country.
In any case, the dog was not going to save itself so it was up to us to do something. We tried phoning people and realised the municipal animal shelter has closed down operations… probably due to lack of interest. Stumped… Did not want to spend another £100 that we didn’t have on vet’s bills. So, one of our students said she would help. She had a car and despite not liking animals she said she would help. I liked that attitude – it may not be your fight but if there is suffering right under your nose, you don’t just play three wise monkeys and ignore it. Good for Silvia, I am really grateful for her support. What followed was a day-long ordeal of phone calls and trying to push these lazy bastards into doing their jobs properly! NO luck. By 5pm the following day nobody had done anything.
Finally I managed to speak with the Vice President of the municipality and she showed some signs of life – i.e. she didn’t just shrug it off. I asked her to plead with the municipal shelter from the next town to take the dog in and put it to sleep. They kept asking – can it walk? Well, if it can walk, we can’t take it, we are full. That dog only needed one thing – one injection to end its pains and they wouldn’t even consider it. I kept telling them it won’t need rehoming or an expensive surgery but no, they weren’t having any of it. Finally, thanks to the kind lady from the municipality, the voluneer firefighters picked it up this morning and took it to the shelter.
I hope he dies quickly and painlessly.
I hope for my own sanity we don’t have many more of these cases.
I love you, Steve, thank you for all your support when I’m covered in snot and tears and I’m not at all attractive.
Peace.