Howl-yelp

Here I was, merrily composing my phenomenal (yeah right) year end/year start blog when Tat let me know there was someone at the gate. It was the girl from across the road. She's a sweet girl.


A quick snap of Tchuca. Odd photo, I know, but she was yawning here. I had to take it in the dark. She had woken up and started yelping again *sigh* Did I mention that she's extremely hyper? In 6 photos, this is the only clear one of her face.

We've all been very worried about a dog across the road. This dog howl-yelps constantly. It was chained to the front door knob. It had access to a tiny porch - 2m x .5m (6ft x 3ft). The dog would periodically jump over the porch wall and the chain would get stuck, preventing all movement. We spoke to the woman living there. Apparently she was 'looking after the dog for a neighbour' and tied the dog up because the dog would otherwise escape through the bars on the road wall.

Our mild irritation at the noise turned to curiosity, and later alarm, when a huge truck loaded up the contents of the house yesterday. We said nothing and just watched to see what would happen. The dog was still there today with no sign of the people. The girl, their neighbour, came to tell us that apparently the guy had left or was travelling (I'm not sure of the story) and the woman had gone to stay with her mother. The inconsistencies don't stop there either. Apparently she told her other neighbours that someone was looking for a home for the dog and they adopted it.

In the meantime, the dog was still howl-yelping... it's a small dog and the sound is high pitched and enough to drive you insane.... aside from our concern for the welfare of the dog. The problem here is that I have two big dogs, one of whom isn't very friendly to little dogs. We can't keep this dog. Our dogs are now shut in the back. Dingo won't leave Romany and Romany can't be with the little dog. I don't think he'll hurt the little thing, but I can't take the chance. The little dog is in the front. We had to tie her to a post, as our bars are too wide to keep her in, but at least she can run. She's tied in a way that prevents her wrapping the chain around the post. She has loads of shelter, a cushion to sleep on, and has had treats. She has worms too. Fortunately, we had some worm tablets on hand.

What kind of people would take on someone else's dog then move off? They obviously had no time for the dog when the were around, then they just upped and offed. Brazil has little or no 'help' for cases like this. No RSPCA or any such organisation. We did find an organisation and reported the situation by email (they have no phone number to contact). We'll see what happens. At least the dog's incessant howl-yelping has stopped for now. Perhaps I'll even get to sleep tonight.

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On the subject of dogs. We were at the pet shop the other day. We saw Kong dog toys and I remember them being mentioned around here, so I went to take a look. This same toy:
http://www.lnt.com/product/plush-toys/168827/medium.html


... only it was a zebra, was over R$70!! That translates to around US$40. I see it is being sold in the US for between US$5 and $11. What the heck?!

 

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