If you’re familiar with Brazil, you probably already know about the colorful shanty towns of the country, known as favelas, many of which are built precariously along the sides of massive mountains. But you may not know that a group of animal-loving volunteers recently built a favela for the stray dogs living in Caxias do Sul. Aside from the shelter offered in the shanty town, volunteers also visit daily to provide the dogs with fresh food and water.
The idea arose when a local animal charity, SOAMA, could not afford to build a full shelter for the animals of the area. Instead, they asked volunteers to help them build a city of dog houses where 1,600 dogs and 200 cats now call home.
Most of the dogs are mutts, which the director of SOAMA says is the problem, as most people in the area want purebreds.
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That would make an interesting study too. I wonder if each dog claims a house as his territory or if they share at all.
posted by hockeyzombie on 7-21-2010 at 3:20 pm
Neat, you’d think it’d be hard to get 1,600 dogs to sit and stay ;)
posted by Ninja Troll on 7-21-2010 at 3:28 pm
That sucks that people only want purebred dogs there when there are all of these lonely dogs that could use a good loving home! The people will just be bringing in more dogs from where they can get purebreds and what if they escape or get out as dogs sometimes do? They’ll just add to the feral population and produce more mutts.
posted by Jen on 7-21-2010 at 5:07 pm
At the risk of sounding insensitive, that’s a terrible idea. Granted, it’s better than catching dogs and forcing them to live in a cage it’s entire life because nobody wants them. Still, the more stray dogs you shelter and feed, the more they’ll reproduce and there will eventually be even more stray dogs that will be needing more food and shelter. In nature, if an animal population is too high it dies off until the numbers are sustainable. Why waste resources on creating an unsustainable population? Heck, you could make buying purebreds illegal, it would help much more.
posted by SarahofBorg on 7-21-2010 at 10:28 pm
Those purebreedists don’t know what they’re missing! My shelter mutt is the best dog EVER!!!
It may not be the best thing to do, but it is wonderful those volunteers are at least trying to make a bad situation better. There is a woman in Houston trying clean up a part of town where unwanted and hurt animals get dumped. She and her volunteers provide food and water and I believe some shelter for those dogs, but she also works to find foster homes for them. Kudos for good intentions and a good heart.
posted by Nykkya on 7-22-2010 at 9:51 am
I think that these dogs are probably very happy, instead of being in some horrible cages. They need to be fixed beforehand, though. The reproduction will be too high.
posted by Sandy Kinsella on 7-22-2010 at 11:04 am
Did no one else realize that these dogs appear to be chained (or some how tied) next to each house? I read the other sites as well, and the first link leads you to a website which states: …”Volunteers try to feed them every day”… I had a very dificult time with that statement and so many animals restrained so that they were no longer able to fend for themselves if they weren’t fed that day…
posted by ItIsMe on 7-22-2010 at 11:19 am
ItIsMe–I was noticing the same thing. Dogs appear to be tied to their homes. I really appreciate what they are trying to do, but dogs need to be able to run around and get exercise!
posted by Stevester on 7-22-2010 at 11:37 am
I read a BBC article about this. The woman Speaking for the charity knows the situation is not ideal but I commmend them from doing the best they can. It’s kind of like making Lemon Juice out of Lemons. Maybe a little press attention will help bring in donations and a real shelter can be built.
Also, what is the obsession with purebread dogs?! I have had plenty of both muts and purebreads and in my opinion muts have been some of the best dogs we’ve had. I have two muts that we adopted from local shelters. One is the smartest dog I’ve ever had and the other one is the cutest. I’m totally not biased though.
posted by Brit on 7-22-2010 at 2:42 pm
I worry that these dogs are being left at the mercy of cruel people. They are chained for god’s sake! What’s to prevent the entire group from being poisoned, beaten to death, set on fire?? Not to mention, bitches go in to heat and are bred by roaming males??? this is NOT a solution. The dogs look in good shape, VACCINATE against rabies (use a plastic marker to i.d. vaccinated dogs) and spay/neuter and let the dogs survive on their own as they have learned to do. Chaining and ‘trying’ to feed (or worse – water) 1,600 dogs is ridiculous.
posted by Puller on 7-28-2010 at 11:03 am