Maya--a sad tale

I have three dogs at home in Portland, so it was difficult for me to see all the dogs on the street in Copan. The majority of dogs seemed relatively healthy, if flea-covered and filthy, but overall seemed to be doing okay. A few of the dogs I encountered, though, seemed to be clinging to life by a thread--skin and bones, very little fur, sometimes with sores. I couldn't stand seeing these dogs in such a condition, so I started buying dog food at the supermarkets and in the mornings and evenings I would wander around town feeding the dogs.

One extra pathetic looking dog (who I'd named Maya) who could barely walk it was so skinny tugged at the strings at my heart and I sort of 'adopted' her while I was there. I was so worried about Maya's welfare that I emailed an American woman, Pilar Thorn, who runs a dog shelter in Teguciculpa (who I found after doing a google search and reading this article: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Scoop/Animal-advocate) sending the picture of the dog above and asked if she knew of anyone in Copan who might be able to help this miserable dog. Pilar sent my email on to Lloyd, the owner of Macaw Mountain, and I met with Lloyd to tell him about the plight of the dog and he promised that he'd keep feeding her after I left and try to get her some treatment.

For a few days I was so happy, feeling as if I'd really rescued this poor animal, hoping Lloyd or Pilar could send me pictures of her recovery process. Then, on my last morning in Copan I was worried because Maya didn't show up at parque central as she'd started doing as I started feeding her on a regular basis. Then, as I was walking to the bus station, I noticed two otherwise healthy dogs dead in the ditch. I'd heard that the tourism ministry of Copan sometimes poisoned the street dogs and I was afraid that's what had happened to the dogs in the ditch and was the reason Maya had not come to parque central. There was little I could do though since I was living Copan for good that day.

A week or so later I got an email from Pilar saying that Lloyd hadn't wanted to tell me but he'd inquired in one of the government offices in Copan after not seeing Maya for a few days and they confirmed that the ministry of tourism had poisoned about 70 street dogs the Thursday evening I'd left. I started crying as I read that email and it was hard for me to stop for quite awhile. When the tears stopped my sorrow turned to angry and later that day I got an email from Karen Menczer, who started Animal-Kind International (http://www.animal-kind.org/) an organization that supports animal welfare in developing countries. She'd heard about the story and wanted to help do something about it. We haven't made any plans so far, but I hope that someday countries like Honduras might find alternatives to their current treatment of animals.