Farewell to Garlic

What a bizarre day! I was shocked and relieved to hear about my brother's rescue in the Bering Sea... and soon after posting the following blog my host father in Moldova comes into my room to let me know the family dog has been shot. Yes, SHOT!

Apparently every spring and autumn the Town Hall coordinates a death to dogs day. A posse goes around town and shoots every dog it sees on the street. Garlic, our host family's dog, was one of the few dogs that was not permanently chained to a gate- one of the reasons I chose to live with this family. Ultimately, this freedom led to his death.

I get so angry the more I learn how animals are treated here! I understand stray dogs are a major problem and they reproduce every year... but why the massacre? I know why- because animals are very rarely considered pets here. They're either food, or put to work guarding a house by being chained by a gate for life, or made to pull heavy carts. Anything else is garbage. Besides, its cheaper to kill them than to deal with them in a humane way!

Probably some of the adorable dogs I've been feeding on the streets had their last scraps of food early this morning. The murderers came out in force around 6am. Can you imagine doing that?

Aaaaaaaaah! Since coming here I've thought about doing a documentary on stray dogs.. hearing about Garlic's slaughter makes me want to do it all the more.

On the flipside I know many Americans back home spoil their animals. Some dogs eat only grand gourmet meals, and get better health care than most people! Then there are so many other countries, like Moldova, where dogs on the street are considered dirty, disease-infested nuisances. But aren't we the ones responsible for making them that way?

Grrrrrr.... This post goes out to those dogs that were slaughtered this morning.

May you enjoy Doggy Heaven, eat whatever tasty morsels you didn't get on the streets of Ceadir-Lunga, and (if reincarnation exists) may you be reborn and raised by a rich dog-lover.