2 days ago I was at the SIMABO clinic with Nomad hanging out, a person brought in their dog to have a treatment for fleas and mange, during this time she asked me in broken translated English 'why is your dog so well behaved? How do you get him to sit? How do you get him to give you his paw? The answer was simple... Respect. You build a relationship based on mutual respect, happiness is formed on both sides of the leash from this simple act.
Sometimes
we find ourselves over analysing decisions in life; asking ourselves
questions like 'what if'', 'but what happens when?'.There are times
when you need to push these questons to the side and just do what we
feel is right. This is what happened on an average Thursday in
Mindelo.
We
had just finished another stint with Sea Shepherd doing anti poaching work in the Archipalego of Cape Verde, our ship was back in Port for
the winter months, to do repairs and work on the ship. In this time
myself and a few of the crew started volunteering with local animal
rescue shelter and clinic SIMABO in our spare time. If your reading
this you will know that the greatness of their work and that it
cannot be put into words, they are everything thats right with the
grassroots animal rights movement. They are pushing the boundries
daily in West Africa and are literally writing the blueprint for how
change can come for street dogs and cats in this part of the world.
Over
the course of a week I saw Nomad everyday, at this point he was just
known to me as ''little fella''. He was a cool boy, young, shy,
anxious but had this charm about him. Like most he had lots of mange,
he was covered in ticks and fleas and was very skinny. At first he
wouldn't even let me touch him. In the last 2 days of this week Nomad
was out everywhere with me doing ship errands, slept outside the
marina and then came on a 6km run with me. He was exhausted but didnt
once fall more than 3 metres behind me. The next day he was there
again. I headed back to the ship, grabbed a piece of rope and went
back to see this scruffy little street pup. He jumped up, with his
tail wagging and nuzzled into my legs, I made a slip lead with the
piece and rope, put it around his neck and took him back to the ship.
He pretty much slept for the next 3 days straight, it was probably
the first time for a long time he had peace to sleep like this.
Training Nomad has been difficult, simply because hes just so
sensitive to emotion. Most street dogs will tell you where to get off
if you show them any discipine, and rightly so. Nomad just absorbs
everything.
About
a month had passed when Ravi, a worker from simabo said he knew this
dog and that he had picked him up from the governments 'to kill'
shelter before we had rescued him. Luckily Ravi had gone and seen
Nomad and a few others and took them and released them back on the
street. This is the problem here, the governments response is always
to round a few of the worst looking street animals, kill them and
make it look like they are dealing with the problem. The bottom line
is they are not, they are merely a dust covered dullness to the issue
at hand. Nomad had been neutered before we rescued him. This means
that at one time he probably had a guardian, but 9/10 what happens is
puppies are bought here for a Euro (literally), they grow a bit
bigger, loose their ''cuteness'' and people put them on the doorstep
and forget about them, this is the norm, there's no stigma attached
to it. The majority of these dog and cats get hit by cars, starve,
fight with other animals, live at the hands of abuse by humans,
either way it all ends in sadness and route of the problem is never
addressed. Don't get me wrong, there are a few who have an incredible
life, roaming free, on their own or in small packs, but they are
few. Like I said before, sometimes you just have to commit, the sadness I see in these street dogs faces every day is enough. It wasn't the right time for me to adopt a dog, but there wasn't a decision to be made. Now I just need to alter my life in a way that supports this little guy, its not difficult, it just means giving a little here and there. I feel super lucky to be with a women who also devotes her life to helping the weak and not even questioning the decision to take Nomad.
I
write this story with a key undertone, I ask that you never buy a dog
from a breeder again, if you are buying because you want the perfect
pet, that it has to be the precise breed and look a certain way, then
you are doing everything wrong. If you want happiness, adopt one, do
not give money to the very people who are creating these problems.
Humans have created this problem, and although you may not have been
part of that, you have one choice that puts you with them or against
them. With every dog we buy, we are creating one more life in the
breeding program of profit. Any breeder who says they love dogs and
thats why they do it, are either uneducated, haven't seen the other
side of the fence or the money sign sits higher, more than likely its
the latter. We created the monster that is animal breeding, its up to
us to change that collectivley. Although Nomad gives me endless
happiness, that was never the drive, my happiness comes everyday
seeing him at ease, seeing him have a safe place to live, knowing he
doesn't have to live on scraps from trash, knowing the cowards who
get a kick out of hurting dogs cant touch him, this is true
happiness.
We
know the right thing to do, we know how to solve this street dog
problem, the rest is up to us, individually and collectively. We are
not powerless, everytime the government lays poison, everytime they
kill a healthy street dog, we are saving them, we are adopting them,
we are sponsoring them, we are marching for them, we are putting
ourselves between the abusers and the animals ... protest their
methods with action and positive choices. I can't tell you how many
times I've been threatened or tested by people here for getting
between them and the animals they are abusing, I will accept the
consequences everytime, I stand for the weak. They said we could
never by angry yet happy at the same time, how wrong they were!!
I'd
like to end this by saying thankyou to Simabo, for the chances and
freedom you give so many.
- in 3
months Nomad will start a new life in England, if you want to adopt
or sponsor an animal from SIMABO please contact simabo@hotmail.it for
more information.
