2 dogs in need of immediate medical assistance. Can anyone help please?

[yellowshoes55]

On Saturday, we walked from Samos to Sarria through a little village called Perros.
There were two dogs that badly need medical assistance & since I can only speak English, I don't know how to help them.
They were within a kilometre of each other. The first dog was sitting in a field on a corner with a smaller dog. A woman was tending the vegetables in the field. Above on the right side, on the other side of the road were some sheep. The dog in need of medical assistance was a large brown dog similar to a Saint Bernard. It had an eye missing which was red with infection and the other eye was also red with infection. Both eyes had flies crawling all over them & laying maggots. He was completely blind. The little dog seemed to be protecting him.
The other dog was down the road & close to the Perros church opposite a farm. He was a white fog with his ribs showing, very friendly, but walking on only 3 legs. His front left leg was badly swollen at the joint so that he was unable to walk on this leg.
It upset me terribly & when we reached the Alburgue just out of Sarria (Paloma y Lena), I asked them to help. He said he would do what he could as they were also animal lovers.
We stayed in Sarria one night, then walked to Portomarin. I rang the Alburgue from there & was told that the Guarde civil would not go out without being accompanied by someone. Unfortunately, we were by this time in Portomarin & I can't speak Spanish.
Is anyone able to help these poor dogs? I fear these dogs will die a slow painful death without help.

 

[good_old_shoes]

Hello Yellowshoes.



First, let me say I appreciate that you cared enough about those poor dogs to ask at the Albergue for help and to post a help request here. Too many people who don't care at all.


Sadly I can't be of much help Probably would have been easier for you to do something for them while you were still there. Don't want to criticise you, but walking away seldom works in such cases. Nobody feels responsible, everyone just waits for someone else to do it, and in the end, nobody does.

But well, now concentrate on what still can be done.


Is there really nobody who knows the region better who can give some advice here?


I did a google search and found out there's a no kill dog shelter in Ourense, but that's almost 100km away from Samos. I doubt they'll drive out there but maybe they can give you the number of another shelter that's closer? They have an emergency number on their homepage, I don't know if I'm allowed to post a link here, but if you google for „Progape Ourense emergencia“ you will find it. You can ask another pilgrim or a hospitalero to translate or make the call for you.



I hope you find a way to get the dogs help. Maggots kill within a few days, what a horrible way to die

 

[yellowshoes55]

Thank you so much for your response.
I have been constantly worrying about these two dogs & am saddened that I could not do anything to help them.
Thank you for giving me the information about Progape Oursense. I have found a Facebook page for progape Oursense & have pleaded the dogs case on there.
Hopefully they will act on my information & contact someone in the area of Samos that can help these dogs.

Hello Yellowshoes.



First, let me say I appreciate that you cared enough about those poor dogs to ask at the Albergue for help and to post a help request here. Too many people who don't care at all.


Sadly I can't be of much help Probably would have been easier for you to do something for them while you were still there. Don't want to criticise you, but walking away seldom works in such cases. Nobody feels responsible, everyone just waits for someone else to do it, and in the end, nobody does.

But well, now concentrate on what still can be done.


Is there really nobody who knows the region better who can give some advice here?


I did a google search and found out there's a no kill dog shelter in Ourense, but that's almost 100km away from Samos. I doubt they'll drive out there but maybe they can give you the number of another shelter that's closer? They have an emergency number on their homepage, I don't know if I'm allowed to post a link here, but if you google for „Progape Ourense emergencia“ you will find it. You can ask another pilgrim or a hospitalero to translate or make the call for you.



I hope you find a way to get the dogs help. Maggots kill within a few days, what a horrible way to die

 

[shefollowsshells]

On Saturday, we walked from Samos to Sarria through a little village called Perros.
There were two dogs that badly need medical assistance & since I can only speak English, I don't know how to help them.
They were within a kilometre of each other. The first dog was sitting in a field on a corner with a smaller dog. A woman was tending the vegetables in the field. Above on the right side, on the other side of the road were some sheep. The dog in need of medical assistance was a large brown dog similar to a Saint Bernard. It had an eye missing which was red with infection and the other eye was also red with infection. Both eyes had flies crawling all over them & laying maggots. He was completely blind. The little dog seemed to be protecting him.
The other dog was down the road & close to the Perros church opposite a farm. He was a white fog with his ribs showing, very friendly, but walking on only 3 legs. His front left leg was badly swollen at the joint so that he was unable to walk on this leg.
It upset me terribly & when we reached the Alburgue just out of Sarria (Paloma y Lena), I asked them to help. He said he would do what he could as they were also animal lovers.
We stayed in Sarria one night, then walked to Portomarin. I rang the Alburgue from there & was told that the Guarde civil would not go out without being accompanied by someone. Unfortunately, we were by this time in Portomarin & I can't speak Spanish.
Is anyone able to help these poor dogs? I fear these dogs will die a slow painful death without help.

Huge animal lover here...but nothing I can do on the opposite side of the pond for these two pups, I wish there was.
I have to be honest in my opinion the best one to do anything probably is you!!!!!
You are a days walk, two days walk (so a 1/2 hour drive maybe) from the dogs. You are passionate for their case, you have a possibly ally in the auberge who said he was willing to help BUT felt he needed someone to go with him (you maybe)...
It sounds like you have a great shot at helping these pups. It might take up a day of your Camino, but sounds like it would be a day you would not regret.
I suggest a taxi back...and then a taxi back to where you are now...
I say this with the greatest respect for your mission but suspect out of all of us you are the closest to these dogs, have already made a great contact to help...and have the massive passion to save them.
I betcha it wouldn't take much money to help those eyes...
It just seems obvious to me that you are the best one to help them given the above.

My thoughts are with you!
Good luck!
I'm similiar when it comes to animals trust me....I had a blind retriever who was 8 years old shipped to me from a good 50 miles away and kept him til he died...so I understand. But I don't think breaking a bunch of hearts from across the World to try to help them when you are a days walk away is going to be much help to them.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Please,go back and do what you can. I have never understood how little care is given to these sentient beings. In Molinaseca I met the most wonderful abandimed dog. 2 days later I felt terrible for not taking him with me, but whemI called the restauréant where he was hamging around to see if he was,still there if I went back to get him to fly him home with me, he had already been picked up by another pilgrim.

Edited by Moderator.

 

[Icacos]

I feel I can't sit silently by and not say a word in defence of the OP who witnessed these two dogs in need of help, tried to get help for them at a nearby albergue, then appealed via the forum for someone else who might be in a position to help. I think she did what she could do at the time, with the best of intentions. I don't know her situation at the time she encountered these dogs and I don't know what further obligations / responsibilities / worries / issues she had / has to contend with that made her unable to devote any more time to the welfare of these dogs. She said the situation upset her terribly and I have no doubt the memory of this will haunt her for a long time.

Just a few hours after starting in SJPP, I too, encountered a very unsettling situation where a dog was confined in dreadful conditions. I was horrified. With my very limited Spanish I could have complained to two village folk I encountered shortly after, but I thought there was little doubt that these two men were already well aware of the situation (the confined dog was that close) and that, more importantly, it was not my place, as a visitor passing through, to comment on what was being done in the village. This sad situation, and what I considered my inability to rectify it, haunted me for the rest of my Camino, and it haunts me still.

People make the best decisions they can based on their abilities at the time. I think it behooves us to support others in the decisions that they make. That's just my humble opinion......

 

[JohnMcM]

On Saturday, we walked from Samos to Sarria through a little village called Perros.
There were two dogs that badly need medical assistance & since I can only speak English, I don't know how to help them.............................................Is anyone able to help these poor dogs? I fear these dogs will die a slow painful death without help.

yellowshoes55,

I wish I could help but am not able to.

On one hand I feel deeply saddened by your post, on the other hand I feel so privileged to know that I share a forum with another pilgrim tried their best to help those animals.

Very often people speak of the kindness, spirit and the re-kindling of their belief in humanity they find on the Camino. I truly believe they speak of people such as yourself.

From the bottom of my heart, thank-you.

Buen Camino.

 

[good_old_shoes]

Sorry for the long post.


I don't want to blame you, Yellowshoes, I hope what I wrote has not been read that way. Sometimes circumstances make it difficult to react the way we want to/should, I know that. Like I said, I appreciate that someone at least cared enough to ask for help on the internet and in the Albergue. If that was all you were able to do in that moment, that's more than most people do, and I'm very thankful you did what you could!


It's only that from my everyday experience I know that usually, if you don't do the rescue yourself, nobody does. I pick up sick/injured animals all the time. Most people just walk by. I bet many of them think „Oh well, someone should help that poor thing!“, which is good, and of course much better than not caring at all, but few people actually act on that. Passing responsibility to someone else can help if you know who to call, but if not... What I want to say is, feeling bad for the animal doesn't help them. Bringing them to the vet does.


I had one encounter on the Camino where in hindsight I think I should have done something, but didn't (that animal obviously had an owner, who tried to help, albeit not very succesfully – and the fact it had an owner made me hesitate to do anything else than tell them they should bring it to a vet. That will probably haunt me forever.)


Before I went to Spain, my friends were making fun of me and predicted I would arrive in Santiago with half a dozen dogs I picked up on the way. That's because I normally I can't even go for a walk in the park without picking up at least an injured bird, but on the Camino that just didn't happen. Seems like it wasn't supposed to (I had written down the important vocabulary you need to find a veterinarian ect., though, because I knew there are many strays in Spain, so, just in case...).


I can only make a plea to everyone – if you see an animal that is sick or hurt, please, take immediate action. Don't wait for others to do it. If you can save a life, why hesitate?


And thanks to everyone who cares!!! Including Yellowshoes (if that has not been clear from what I wrote before)

 

[deborah101]

I agree with the above posts that say the best person to follow up with action would be the person who observes a situation to begin with. When I hiked the Norte one year, I found 2 small puppies, German Shepherds maybe, in the woods. They were still soft and clean, probably recently weaned, recently lost or abandoned. They followed me and my hiking partner until their little legs were too tired to carry them anymore. There was NO way my maternal nature would allow me to leave them. I was able to convince my hiking partner to carry one puppy while I carried the other. He was a Spaniard and his lack of enthusiasm seemed a bit heartless to me, but he complied with my request and didn't complain. We had no idea how far we might have to carry them. As I walked, carrying that sweet little ball of fur, falling in love fast, I had to reason with myself that I would do what I could but, being on a long distance walk in another country, I would not be able to take these babies home with me. We passed a business of some sort, a man was driving out of the gate. We asked him if he would be interested in helping, but he said he already had 3 dogs of his own then drove on. After a few more kilometers, we arrived at a crossroads and saw an elderly couple in front of their cottage. We explained why we were carrying these puppies and asked how far the village was and if there was a veterinarian there. Five km, and no veterinarian, was the answer. Then the old woman looked at the pups and said, "You are welcome to leave them here with us if you want." Music to my ears! She gave them water and let them run through her yard and right through the front door. I guess her maternal nature kicked in too. My Spanish companion later said the couple would take those pups to the next village market day and sell them for whatever price they could get. This was fine by me, because at least the poor little things would have half a chance, as opposed to fending for themselves in the woods. I still wonder what happened to those adorable little fluff balls. And I shudder to think how they ended up in the woods. I can only imagine how the original poster felt upon seeing those poor suffering animals. And I agree, especially feeling that strongly, she was probably the one in the best position to act at the time. But I have observed several situations in that country where animals were treated poorly. I have observed similar situations here at home too. It is gut wrenching, sad, difficult, and leaves much to think about for a long time. And let's not even begin to talk about the treatment of our fellow human beings in the world. Really, all one can do is to try, to the best of one's ability, using whatever resources are available...and hope for the best.