Since Lydia came into my life she’s opened my eyes for “second hand dogs”. I now have a story about that, that I want to share with you. This is not a technical blog post, this is a post about something as simple caring for animals.

Before I continue this personal story, I want to share a picture with you. It’s a picture I took of the other browned eyed girl living in our house, who’s constantly fighting with Lydia for my attention. Her name is Xena.

Xena is a “second hand dog” from a Guardia Civil office. That’s death row for stray pets. Guardia Civil usually picks up stray pets and if no one adopts the animal within a couple of days, it’s put to sleep. Not because they don’t like animals, no, because there are so many of them.

I dare to say that in Scandinavia the “second hand dogs” phenomenon is not so well known, as people in most cases treat their pets with respect and love.

In Spain, the owners of overbooked shelters for abandoned and / or injured dogs tell a different story. People abandon dogs and cats in abundance. Some people have “summer pets”, that they leave behind in the city they spent their summer holiday. Others because the temper of the dog might not suit the owner, or maybe because keeping the dog is more of a job than expected. We experienced a lot of those dogs last night in Carboneras. Luckily, most people were friendly to the small stray creatures, that were now begging at the tables outside restaurants.

Today, however, it was a quite different. And today we’ve been talking to a lot of those dog shelter owners.

Our story starts en route to a new city, where we had to stop for refreshments and gasoline. When paying, Lydia asked about the dog laying outside. The staff told us that someone had abandoned the dog at the gas station. The dog now lived outside the gas station and there it was waiting for its owner to come back and pick it up. One of the shelter owners actually knew the dog, and confirmed the gas station staff’s story that someone already had tried to pick it up for adoption. But when someone tried to get near it ran away and returned again to the same place when the people had left.

When we were leaving the gas station, I somehow felt that this story had to be told or captured. I decided stop the car and get out to get a picture of the sleeping dog.

I never got a picture of the dog sleeping. It got up before and maybe that’s ok. Not only was the dog thin. Although sleeping in shadow, it was coping with 30C+ degrees. But the worst thing was the flies. We did notice the many flies when putting on gas. The dog was sleeping with its mouth open, and its teeth and tongue was covered black with flies. That sight made me sick to my stomach.

But the dog wasn’t sleeping anymore. Now he was up looking at me. I managed to get a couple of shots, but I honestly had a very hard time focusing about light and focus settings.

Poor guy. He didn’t stay still. He was fighting the flies all the time. Must drive him nuts when he’s awake. How will his sleep be with a mouth alive with flies?

At that point we didn’t know what to do, and we drove away with a strong feeling of injustice. But when we arrived to our hotel we decided that we couldn’t just let such a sight go by unnoticed.

So we’ve been calling around to the dog shelters, and here’s probably the worst part of the story: It happens all the time. Some people even abandon them close to tourist areas, as they know that people from the U.K., Germany and Scandinavia are keen on taking them. 

What will happen to our friend at the gas station is yet to be seen. I guess he’s still waiting. Meanwhile we’re still searching for at place for him, and for someone to pick him up. Doesn’t look too positive, though…

So please, if you consider getting a dog, don’t get a brand new one. Consider one from Spain*. They’re not rabies-monsters from hell, they’re lost and without a home. And they’re super nice. Xena is a a living proof of that, charming everyone that meets her.

And of course, here’s a picture of our loyal friend at the gas station.

* There’s pan-European adoption services, that will help you get the dog across borders.