No name, no shame

Last minute love from a caring vet,
but is still biting his muzzle

We never gave him a name. Probably nobody ever gave him a name. He had been wandering around the outskirts of Jimena, by the entrance through Corral de Concejo. Nobody could get close because he was in such pain that the only thing he knew was to defend himself. Defend himself ... it was probably the only thing he had been able to learn in the only year of his life. Nobody could catch him ... until he was so weak that he couldn't help getting caught, though not without giving out snappy aggression. He was still defending himself at the Campayo López vet clinic. Antonia nearly burst into tears when she saw him. The kindest thing, she agreed, was to give him a quiet, restful death. And so it was.>>>No, he'd never been chipped, so the owner couldn't be identified. Personally, I would have liked to identify the owner, if only to do to him/her exactly what he/she had done to allow this poor animal to suffer.

J.A.W.S. would have had to denounce him/her to authorities that merely shrug their shoulders because they can do nothing, because they don't want to do anything, because there are so many abandoned, neglected animals, because there is a lack of resources and cutbacks everywhere, because what's the point in denouncing when nothing is done anyway.

There are too many cases of these hunting dogs, these podencos or crosses. This one had been fitted with a plastic twine collar when he was a small puppy. The dog grew, the collar didn't. Little by little the collar ate into his skin, then into the flesh, until it reached the bone. He couldn't eat because he couldn't swallow. In the end, he couldn't even drink.

All we could do is help him avoid a lengthy, very painful death - even more painful than his one year of suffering. Thank you to the neighbours who helped us put him out of his misery.

He didn't need a name, just as dignified a death as possible.