I have received a PM from a forum member who has passed along information about a new (at least for the forum) dog incident on the Invierno.
As a bit of background, you may remember that there have been some reports over the years about loose and threatening dogs on the Invierno. The two that I remember most clearly are the big mastiff in Villavieja whose owner refused to take control and let him wander loose to scare both pilgrims and the guests at the Casa Rural in Villavieja. Here is a link to one discussion. I had personal experiences with that dog twice, in 2012 and 2015, but my understanding is that it is no longer a problem.
The second, and much more frightening, dog situation involved one or two (depending on the day) very vicious dogs located right before arriving at the bridge in Barxa do Lor. Those dogs were chained up and clearly vicious. There was space to pass, but just barely. If the chain had broken, as one forum member said, there is no doubt that we would have been seriously injured or worse. Information on those incidents here. I do not know of any recent reports that the dogs are still there.
This new incident, which is shot live in the following youtube, involves a dog loose in the small village of A Zapateira, shortly after Pobra de Brollón.
I’m posting this not to scare anyone, but just to give a heads up. It is frequently the luck of the draw whether the aggressive dog will be out or not when you pass through. If I were to walk through A Zapateira, or any other village where a barking growling dog appears in front of me, I would retreat very quietly. I would then stand there and shout “oiga” until someone appears to take care of the dog. I have done that on many occasions and someone has always showed up (even once up in the mountains where I had to wait at least 20 minutes for the shephard to show up while his dog was barking).
Any additional info would be appreciated, take care, peregrinos.
As a bit of background, you may remember that there have been some reports over the years about loose and threatening dogs on the Invierno. The two that I remember most clearly are the big mastiff in Villavieja whose owner refused to take control and let him wander loose to scare both pilgrims and the guests at the Casa Rural in Villavieja. Here is a link to one discussion. I had personal experiences with that dog twice, in 2012 and 2015, but my understanding is that it is no longer a problem.
The second, and much more frightening, dog situation involved one or two (depending on the day) very vicious dogs located right before arriving at the bridge in Barxa do Lor. Those dogs were chained up and clearly vicious. There was space to pass, but just barely. If the chain had broken, as one forum member said, there is no doubt that we would have been seriously injured or worse. Information on those incidents here. I do not know of any recent reports that the dogs are still there.
This new incident, which is shot live in the following youtube, involves a dog loose in the small village of A Zapateira, shortly after Pobra de Brollón.
I’m posting this not to scare anyone, but just to give a heads up. It is frequently the luck of the draw whether the aggressive dog will be out or not when you pass through. If I were to walk through A Zapateira, or any other village where a barking growling dog appears in front of me, I would retreat very quietly. I would then stand there and shout “oiga” until someone appears to take care of the dog. I have done that on many occasions and someone has always showed up (even once up in the mountains where I had to wait at least 20 minutes for the shephard to show up while his dog was barking).
Any additional info would be appreciated, take care, peregrinos.