My Thoughts on Dogs and Cats and the Terrible Way Many Tourists Often Treat Them.
Dogs and Cats Everywhere!
Throughout my travels, the one thing I’ve had a hard time with, more than anything else, is the prevalence of homeless animals. Specifically dogs and cats that are everywhere when you’re traveling. By and large most are gentle, and nervous, and generally scared of approaching most people.
If they do, it’s out of desperation and hunger. They are just trying to survive, like everyone else.
One of the things I’ve quietly been doing on my trip is picking up some food for dogs and cats, and providing them with a snack when I can. It’s not much, and I know that it’s only a day or a few days if I see them a few times. But it’s something. The homeless animals bother me far more than people do. People typically have SOME safety net, some family they can go to. I know there are many many other factors why people end up homeless as well, so I’m not discounting that.
But animals don’t have that. Often abused, or abandoned and left to fend for themselves.
So yeah, I do what I can, I don’t make a big deal of it, or film it for clicks.
Don’t Be A Jerk
But I do want to talk about an incident I saw when I was in San Juan La Laguna, on Lake Atitlan, which really bothered me. Enough to take the time to write about it here. I was out in the evening, enjoying some street food (namely the best torta I’ve ever had..), and was sitting down enjoying it. Another young couple came by and sat down next to me. They had some fried chicken, and were trying to enjoy it, but they had a few dogs following them. The dogs were not being aggressive or threatening, were keeping a distance of a few feet. It’s the same kind of thing you run into everywhere you go.
But for whatever reason, this couple decided the best decision was to kick at the dogs, yell at them, and try to shush them away. They were being really angry towards the dogs, and the dogs would back off.
I kind of gave them a look, and told them that I just try to be kind to the dogs and carry some food with me to feed them, same with cats. They reacted to that like I had a third hand growing out of the front of my face. They couldn’t seem to comprehend that you can be, in fact, a nice person.
I tend to judge people pretty quickly in certain situations. This was one of them. If you’re being mean and aggressive towards some animals who are starving and have no home, then you’re not a good person.
I grabbed the bag of food from my backpack, got up and walked across the street, and put down about half the bag. Immediately 6 or 7 dogs came up and started tearing into the food. They were clearly starving, and just wanted some help.
You can do the same. You don’t have to be a horrible person towards animals. Pet food is cheap, a few dollars goes a long way. It can mean all the difference to a few animals.
I’ve added a few photos here of some of the animals I’ve befriended during my travels, including this pregnant cat who I took a liking to.
What You Can Do To Help Stray Dogs & Cats
This is also a nice time to remind people that there are organizations in some cities who are trying to help, and if you come across one, give them an hour of your time, or make a small donation. We’re all traveling and seeing the world, so chip in a bit. Don’t just take pictures and say “Aww, poor thing”.
La Selva De Los Gatos, Oaxaca, Mexico
This cat was from a Cat Rescue mission that I visited in Oaxaca, Mexico, called “La Selva De Los Gatos“. They’re a cat cafe where they’ve taken in abandoned and rescue cats to give them a better home. Places like this are all over, and often run on shoestring budgets, supported by customers.
Jasper’s Utila Animal Shelter
And I had the pleasure of visiting Jasper’s Animal Shelter & Vet in Utila, Honduras well, who are doing incredible work on the island to help all the strays. They do adoptions all over Central and North America.
YouTube Vlog Visiting Jasper’s
If you’d like to see my video where I visited Jasper’s in Utila, you can see that here:
Life Is Short. Wander!