See Spot Run

"Hey there Little Red Riding Hood
You sure are looking good
You're everything a big bad wolf could want

Listen to me
Little Red Riding Hood
I don't think little big girls should
Go walking in these spooky old woods alone
Owoooooooo"- Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs Li'l Red Riding Hood

“Spot” and his brother,“Not Spot”,  are a pair of puppies that showed up my place on the weekend looking for a feed. They look part Dalmation- but they could be part Croation, for all I know… they’re cute though. One has a spot on his head…guess which?

Spot and Not Spot have no shame- they're starving. Their bony frames are under my feet and stealing food from the bowls of our other dogs before I can rest them on the ground. They're tolerated by our resident pack...ageing black lab' impressionist Captain Nemo,  his trusty baker and companion Constanza (who appears to have yet another bun in the puppy oven) and recent additon Leiutenant Dan...who looks like their love child, but acts like he's part ferel squirrel (so jumpy that if I move too quickly, he tries to climb the nearest tree to hide his nuts for the Winter).

Spot and Not Spot had a big adventure yesterday...when they tried to follow me to work.

In the 7 or 8km between home and work, I'd estimate there is at least 100 dogs. They're not dogs as you know them...they're the things that grow out of neglected, starving puppies like Spot and Not Spot...they're the things that were able to grow.

Spot and Not Spot had had a nice weekend... food, a pat, somewhere dry to lay down on my deck...things were looking up. They got excited- they got so excited, that they followed my pack- Captain, Cozzie and Lefty, out with me on the way to work. 

Now, after about 50m my dogs stop...and turn home. They know, as I do, that the “free range” of dogs in Samoa is illusory. In truth, they're bound in by the territory of the packs on every side (in what passes for logic here- that's one of the reason every compound has dogs- to keep other dogs out.)

Spot and Not Spot had yet to learn this- they didn't turn back, they followed me at a distance of 20m or so, weaving on and off the grass and onto the road...I shouted at them, I threw sticks near them...I thought they'll turn back in a minute.

And then some other dogs smelt them...and the rest is like a not very nice children's story.

See Spot

See Not Spot

See Not Spot cower and cry

See the bad dog eat Not Spot

Shreik, Not Spot, shriek

Run Spot Run

As I carried Not Spot back up the hill, with Spot trailing me, I could see the saliva marks neatly sectioning his body in half. Thankfully, the other dog hadn't bitten- maybe he was just warning his new neighbour about the rules. Not Spot's eyes looked like his eyelids were having difficulty holding them in. He didn't move, and his tick and flea covered coat was now also soaked in urine and saliva...as were the clothes I wore. When I got home, a neighbour held them for a few minutes, while I left the compound.

These aren't our dogs. When I arrived at smurfy, Cozzie and Captain were resident and starving. We dosed them for worms, fleas and ticks, and started to feed them properly. You can't touch Cozzie- and we've tried to catch her to desex, but she's resisted everything from blowpipes and nets, to drugged food. Leutenant Dan showed up starving a month ago. Spot and Not Spot make 5. My food budget is shrinking accordingly...(if it begins to affect my beer budget, something will have to give..)

Of the 100 or so dogs I see every day down the hill- more than half are underweight and almost all live purely on household scraps...they might be considered neglected in a different place...a few are walking skins stuffed with bones; some wear grey ticks in their dozens so that they look miniature steeds in chainmail...most are fearful, some are dangerous, very few are desexed.

My neighbour is a  VSA vet, he's been here almost 2 years working with a local charity. His core role is dog desexing. He's the only practising Vet in the country. And he's here as a volunteer without pay.