Who to turn to for help with a dog

[malko]

How large of a bag do you need for Rafelito?

That thought crossed my mind...... and I also told him as much. However, I also told him that to keep the experience as close to reality as possible, I would have to break both his legs before I tied him up in the bag. 🤬🤬

No words to describe such a vile act.

 

[keepcoming]

Why in the world would this guy do this, that is just sick.

 

[NanSanPedro]

That thought crossed my mind...... and I also told him as much. However, I also told him that to keep the experience as close to reality as possible, I would have to break both his legs before I tied him up in the bag. 🤬🤬

No words to describe such a vile act.

I don't understand his rationale. Did someone put him up to this?

 

[malko]

I don't understand his rationale. Did someone put him up to this?

Mmmh, you may be onto something.

Next episode of the telenovela later tonight.

 

[chico bill]

Now, I have cameras in and around the house.

I cant see where doggy is set up, but I can see the whole road, and the entrance to MIl house across the road. Important for later on.

Anyway I confront Rafelito. Well confront, in this case, means scream in his face and threaten bodily harm.......
The guy is not denying, not saying anything, mind you. Not even telling me where he dragged doggy.
So I go kind of crazy, and he ends up telling me where he took it.
Family and friends say I have " matured" over the past decade, and I might have, as not too long ago I would have beaten him to a pulp...... and God knows I wanted to. 🤬🤬🤬.


The guy tied doggy up in a bag and threw him in an illegal dump. A dried up river bed that is steep as fukc.
So at 1100 at night, we walked down to it --its off the road, along a dirt track--- to see if doggy was still alive.
We found him, alive.
It was no small feet to climb back up the steep bank carrying doggy.
It wasnt easy either to carry doggy back to the house. ( also important for later ).

As of now, doggy is at my place .

to be continued

Give me the guy's name and location.
I will arrange a group to come to his house and provide him tres golpes for 'lunch'.
I have confronted more than one person physically abusing dogs, including knocking a Dominican off his moto who swung a manchette (and missed) at h street dog and a Haitian man that tried to hit my own rescued female dog in the head with a hammer. (he hit me in the hand and cut my knuckle instead).
I arranged his departure from the area.

 

[chico bill]

I don't understand his rationale. Did someone put him up to this?

The majority of Dominicans and Haitians (yes majority) have no heart when it comes to animals.
Some do get dogs and once they get to know them they can change.
But spending money on them for a vet bill - forget about that. Their dogs are lucky to get chicken bones

 

[JD Jones]

You're not the only one Malko.

I have 4 feral cats that hang around my residential area. They are the result of other feral cats producing offspring like there's no tomorrow.

I finally decided I would take them in to get fixed. I was able to capture them by putting tuna in a bag and waiting for them to enter the bag to eat it. It took me two days to catch all of them.

I went to the vet to get a cage, the vet gave them more tuna with a sedative, and now I have four fixed cats. Cost was 3K pesos each.

I'm here to tell ya, them cats ain't happy campers.

My neighbor thinks I'm nuts.

 

[chico bill]

You're not the only one Malko.

I have 4 feral cats that hang around my residential area. They are the result of other feral cats producing offspring like there's no tomorrow.

I finally decided I would take them in to get fixed. I was able to capture them by putting tuna in a bag and waiting for them to enter the bag to eat it. It took me two days to catch all of them.

I went to the vet to get a cage, the vet gave them more tuna with a sedative, and now I have four fixed cats. Cost was 3K pesos each.

I'm here to tell ya, them cats ain't happy campers.

My neighbor thinks I'm nuts.

Yes you spend 12,000 pesos. That's 30 bottles of Columbus rum

 

[malko]

OK, we were at the point where I persuaded Rafelito to tell me where he dragged doggy off to.

So this Rafelito guy is distant family of my MIL ( like cousin twice removed, idk ), and a few years back we had all pitched in to build a wooden house/hut in the hills above us ( well across the road above MIL ).
It was the land of a cousin of my wife's, who lives next door to MIL ( yeah complicated, i know ).
Why ? Because the guy has nothing and nobody ( his remaining family want nothing to do with him ....). So basically we are doing hin a favour.
Well, last year he insulted said cousin over some food that she had set aside for him.
Resulting in her telling him to get off her land.


Why I am telling you all this ? Well because once again he had no where to go and not a penny to his name.
So my MIL allowed him to occupy part of a structure next to her house. A forgón/outside kitchen/ smoke house .
The place where we relocated doggy in front of.
Now I wont go into many details but MIL's house and co is built on her land, but by her daughter ( my wife ).
They dont get on so well----- however i get on great with my MIL.

MIL was not at her place when all this transpired.

 

[malko]

So, I go back across the road to change into jeans and boots, as I knew roughly the hard terrain where he had disposed of doggy.

I pick up a pair of flashlights/torches, as its pitch dark where we are heading.
BTW, I am not affiliated in any way but I have a couple of Olight brand, not cheap but bloody good robust flashlights.

The guy is still sheepishly standing in front of MIL's house.
I have calmed down a bit ( albeit just a bit ), and tell him to start packing his sh.it as he is out of a house.
If you followed the previous post, MIL outside kitchen, but in reality my wife's, so in effect, mine.


We hike down ( and its, like really down down ) the dirt road to the " illegal" dumpsite--- not really used since we have a bin man service now.
The guy had chucked doggy down the steep bank, thankfully there is literally a carpet knee-deep of cacao leaves.
We climbed down, painfully, may I add and started searching.
Doggy had dragged himself further along the dried out river bed.
I managed, God knows how, to climb back up the steep bank to the dirt road.
Even the walk back up to the house on the dirt road, maybe 400, 500m was murder on my arms. Carrying a living being is not like carrying a cement bag or a rucksack....... and I am quite fit, if I may say so myself 😀😀.
Again important for later updates.


We get back to my house. Obviously we are past leaving doggy outside, and I set him up in an empty dog house ( we have 3 dog houses but only 2 are occupied atm ).
He was, of course dying of thirst, and very hungry. So we got him comfy and called it a day.

 

[malko]

Before i went to bed last night, I downloaded a PDF, ley 248-12. Great bedside reading 🥱🥱🥱.
I guess you see where this is going 🙂.
Told my wife I am going to the fiscaleria in the morning.
She was kind of doubtful that they would receive a denuncia in this case.
Turns out she was wrong.
This morning I turned up at the fiscaleria/ Juge de paz (?) in my nearby village.
There is no full time fiscal. so the secretary called the assistant fiscal, who came in and heard out my denuncia
Surprisingly ( well to me, at least ) as soon as she got the gist of the story, she said that that behaviour should not and will not be tolerated anymore.

She wrote everything down and said the fiscal will go over it and convoke Rafelito, and that in the mean time SHE would convoke him and dress him down, and I am welcome to attend either or both meetings, however I am under no obligation.

So that turned out quite well, though we will have to see what comes out of it.

But it shows the kids a few important things :
- there ARE consequences to cruelty towards animals.
- you can defer to authorities in the DR to have laws respected

Still, I would have preferred my " fists in his face" kind of justice, but I guess this is the better, more civilised way---- dang I am getting old and sensible 😆😆😆😆.


P S. If for whatever reason the fiscal will not recieve your denuncia for cruelty towards animals, you can phone this number to let them know and sort it out. 809 480 93 48.

 

[nanita]

God bless you Malko, may you prosper and may your children's children's children prosper. You are an angel to this dog. Thank you for being a good person. What goes around comes around, and you are banking good karma for centuries!!! I think you love the dog now, right?

 

[malko]

God bless you Malko, may you prosper and may your children's children's children prosper. You are an angel to this dog. Thank you for being a good person. What goes around comes around, and you are banking good karma for centuries!!! I think you love the dog now, right?

Thank you for the kind words 🥰.
And yes, for better or for worse, he is now stuck with us in his new home. 😄

In all honesty I do not know where I am going to find the strength to look after doggy ( his name is now Tribilin ( sp?) apparently 🙂 ).

Puppies are a handful, been there done that. But a handicapped dog is a whole other ball game.
My place is really not adapted for that 😭.
I also have to keep him seperate from the other dogs..... I cant risk it, at least for now.

Logistics are a nightmare, I have to carry him everywhere, I have to help him go to the bathroom---- if you see what I mean---, I cant leave him on his own anytime anywhere except in his house: he could fall off the steps, he could drown in the pool, etc ..... and I hate locking up my dogs, they have free roam of garden/patio/conuco.

Also I still have to work for a living ( booo 😖😖😖 ), and in just under 3 months I am heading back to europe for 6 months work.
There is no way my wife has the upper body strength to handle him safety, even though she has the will power. The plan was for her to spend 2 months in europe this year, visiting my parents and her friends, so thats even worse--- extremely unlikely to find somebody to care for him.
Oh well, thats some way down the road, we will see how it all turns out 😕.

 

[Jan]

Sometimes vets (she went to Dr Tull in Santo Domingo) can help. I helped rescue a dog with broken spine a few years ago. Sweety couldn't walk. They were contemplating a dog wheelchair. But, the vet worked with her. She is now walking and has a forever home.

Try wrapping a scarf or strap around back part, like a sling. Then you can let the dog walk on front legs while you lift the back. I have seen easy to make dog wheelchairs on google made out of pvc pipe.

Thank you for saving this dog.

 

[chico bill]

Thank you for the kind words 🥰.
And yes, for better or for worse, he is now stuck with us in his new home. 😄

In all honesty I do not know where I am going to find the strength to look after doggy ( his name is now Tribilin ( sp?) apparently 🙂 ).

Puppies are a handful, been there done that. But a handicapped dog is a whole other ball game.
My place is really not adapted for that 😭.
I also have to keep him seperate from the other dogs..... I cant risk it, at least for now.

Logistics are a nightmare, I have to carry him everywhere, I have to help him go to the bathroom---- if you see what I mean---, I cant leave him on his own anytime anywhere except in his house: he could fall off the steps, he could drown in the pool, etc ..... and I hate locking up my dogs, they have free roam of garden/patio/conuco.

Also I still have to work for a living ( booo 😖😖😖 ), and in just under 3 months I am heading back to europe for 6 months work.
There is no way my wife has the upper body strength to handle him safety, even though she has the will power. The plan was for her to spend 2 months in europe this year, visiting my parents and her friends, so thats even worse--- extremely unlikely to find somebody to care for him.
Oh well, thats some way down the road, we will see how it all turns out 😕.

DR1 could pitch in for a dog harness.
You may have a bigger heart than me, but I would have Rafelito out of there at morning's first light. I'd make him a real distant relative.
Maybe he will find someone to take him in, like you have so graciously done for the injured dog.

 

[chico bill]

I'm offering to pay $100 towards a dog 'wheelchair' off Amazon if you go that route.

 

[Allison Spillman]

This story is a heart breaker! I m so moved by the compassion here, which, for some reason is so illicited by dogs. What is the update…I also have a nearly cripple dog in the states, and it is so sad the way people think to euthanize, just because one one can’t or can hardly walk. Though I imagine it must be easier to keep. Paralytic dog outside than to have one that you have to bring in and out. The fact that he does not seem to be in pain suggests that his paralysis may be due to nerve injury. I assume he has no feeling down below..not sure, if you break your back, does that disconnect the nerves as well. vote for the cart, especially if someone I willing to help pay for it..maybe he could stay near the man with the shack…I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s. Dominican version of one of those carts. Bet someone could rig one up for some pesos.

 

[malko]

Another Update.

Good and bad news ( well, not that bad, all things considered ).

First the good news,

Tribilin ( doggy's name) has settled in just fine.

He has also built up a lot of strength, which is good and bad news.
It wasnt easy, seems he was used to the dominican diet, and dominican way of eating.
Well, you get rice once or twice a week--- if that in our household 🤗.
And you also eat only once a day ( with maybe a treat/snack at lunch ).
You also have to be calm at meal times, and your bowl gets taken away after 15mn, finished or not.
The first few days were rough and confusing to him, he would gobble down the chicken or pork and leave the dried dog food..... but he learned. 😄😄.

The other dogs do not really interact with him, but will not harm him. Which is a blessing, as I would hate to have to lock him up.
The first day he growled at my dogs, who cackled like a bunch of hyenas 🤣🤣🤣🤣--- which couldnt be all that good for his self-esteem, but he seems to have gotten over it.

All in all, he has a lot of spirit and scoots around, dragging his hind legs behind him ( which is also a bad thing , I will get into that in the next post ).
Today, i took him to the conuco and he joined in the chase of a stray cat--- and he was surprisingly fast too 😄.

 

[malko]

Now, the less-than-good news.

Short version is, he is getting cement " burns" on his back legs from scooting around.
We put socks, "trousers" on him, and it helps, but they always finish by falling off.
We tried tying them on, but it seems it reduces his balance, and he fell over a bunch of times, so thats out.

He also has a nasty rash on one of his thighs, he cant control urinating, so it " drips" out all day long, then he licks himself clean .... rinse and repeat.
He also has problem 💩ing, and I have to clean up the patio like 4 times a day🤬🤬.

So its hard to keep him clean, and very time consuming.

He has also put on weight and its harder to carry him around ( and you also have to mind, that he doesn't pee all over you 🙄🙄🙄).
There is no way my wife will be able to carry him around when I am away for work.😭


My patio is full of steps. He has no problem getting down them, but he cant get up them, which is very very problematic. He wants to follow the other dogs around and gets frustrated when he cant.

I reached out to a bunch of associations around the North Coast. Most do not operate anymore. The 1 or 2 that still do suggested euthanasia .....

Well, we will see what we will do sometime in the next weeks.

 

[Father Guido]

Longer version.

At first we thought a car had hit him.
Turns out somebody had tied him to the side of the road. Some coward, obviously. Didn't want to deal with it.

Not uncommon, city folk will regularly dump their dogs on the side of the road. Recently on one of my run-walk-run-walk ( yeah, yeah, i am getting old 😖😖), we untied a BAG with a dog in it. Bloody thing tried to bite us when we let it out 😆😆😆😆 .
I say city folk, cos a dog can just live off the land in the campo, so no need to tie him in a bag and dump him on the side of the road.
Dogs like the one we got out of the bag will just roam and live off scraps until they settle on somebody's front porch at night time. Not the greatest of lives, but its something.

Anyway, the bin people told us they had untied him, thats how we knew he was abandoned.

We have been feeding him for about a week, and he eats just fine.
We also have to go about cleaning him, as he cant get up to do his " buisness".

I imagined he would have died quickly ( i still thought at that time that a car had hit him ).
We had set him up under banana trees, for the shade. But ants were a problem. So we went regularly to take them off him.
Of course, it never rains, it pours, and now a cacata has bit his balls---of all places.
So we also now have to disinfect the wound regularly.

We have set him up elsewhere, an old guy can keep an eye on him. But he wont help him, not how it works here, sadly .

All this is a bit too much for us, if I am being honest.
My wife wants to bring him to our house, I am against it.

#1 I have other dogs. Different type of dogs, guard dogs. It will be a hassle to keep them apart. And since I cant see the dog ever walking again, it would have to be a permanent solution.

#2 He needs more care than we can provide. He needs a real vet, that we dont have access to here in the campo.

#3. Selfishly, and yes I am ashamed, I dont want him giving ticks, fleas and whatnot to my dogs. Yes, I have started " treatment " on him, but it will be a long time before he is clean clean.
He would also need to be vaccinated.

#4 Not to get into my financial situation, I do realize we are very well off by DR standards.
However we have had non-budgeted stuff recently ( we bought some land to help someone, we had tiles that were "pushing up", etc ....), and I dont know if we can assume those costs w/o cutting back on our regular lifestyle. And even though my wife is " europe-inased " , if I may say so, I dont think she realizes that to REALLY help him, I imagine it will be well over 100k pesos.

My wife thinks I am being cold hearted, whereas I think I am just being realistic.
Am I being The as.shole here ?


Again, any institution that comes to mind that could take care of him ?
Forget Salud Publico.