ASH PHOENIX
Sometimes, stories are sad. Sometimes, they have no happy end, but as long as there is hope, there is at least a chance of a positive outcome. Last time, I talked about Mommy, Benny and Oreo, how Mommy had lost her puppies, how Oreo saved her, and finally, how Mommy found a good husband in Benny.
Well, months have passed, and I still have not found someone who wants to adopt Benny, Mommy, or both.
I found a friend who had offered me her land near a sugarcane field, and we built a shed. Unfortunately, it was so muddy and rainy there that I had to take the dogs back after a day. When I left for London, I put them both in a kennel where they had at least one month of food and water and a roof above their heads. It could have been better, but at least they were protected. Once I came back in July, the same story started again. I took them into my garden; Oreo barked at Benny as he was jealous and protective of his house. The neighbours complained although I took the dogs in at night so they would not bark. New neighbours moved in nearby, and after two days, they complained to the syndic. Meanwhile, I posted pictures of both dogs on social media, but Mauritius seems not the place where people adopt grown-up dogs.
The story of Benny is quite sad, too. I learned it from someone who worked at the café in our little village. Benny had a Ukrainian owner who had raised him, but he abandoned the dog when he moved to Grand Baie. I was determined to find Benny’s former owner, but it turned out that he had returned to Europe.
I am sad for Benny and sincerely feel he fears being abandoned again. Benny resembles the dog we had when I was a child – maybe that is why I am so attached, but he also possesses qualities that make him unique. He is kind to children, and he is protective of the house. My heart melts when he falls on his back in front of me, wanting to be caressed and tickled.
Benny smiles, or even better, he laughs and wiggles with his tail as if his life and shelter depended on it.
I have been given an ultimatum to solve the ‘dog problem’ – although the estate did not support our sterilisation campaign, nor did they ever sort out the stray dog problem in the village by finding families for the dogs and cats which get regularly abandoned in the village by people who leave.
It is a problem of responsibility and compassion – a lack of accountability for those who abandon the dogs and a lack of empathy of those who stand by and watch. Of course, we cannot find a home for all stray dogs and stray cats in Mauritius. There are just too many. I heard the number of 350 000 stray dogs in Mauritius alone. But the responsibility also starts with the dog and cat owners and ‘feeders’ who enjoy the animals but don’t even take care of their sterilisation and instead let them procreate indiscriminately.
I will walk Benny again this evening, knowing that I have to say goodbye to him one way or the other soon. So, I keep advertising him and Mommy for adoption and hope for a miracle.
