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Animal Welfare in Peru, or the Politics of Mange
By Rosemary Underhay, Vida Digna

Lucky the dog is aptly named. He roamed for months on the shores of Punta Hermosa, a pariah, covered with mange: severely itching, painful, weeping sores. He was rescued by an American who summers at the resort, and was cured simply, cheaply and quickly at the Vida Digna dog shelter. Three weeks later the municipality left strychnine poison in the streets, killing the town's stray mange-ridden dogs.

Mange kills slowly, driving animals to desperation and sometimes madness, when they lose the ability to forage. Strychnine kills slowly too. It is a horrible death. The WHO has declared it “unacceptable in modern society.” Even in poverty-stricken Sri Lanka, after the tsunami, the health authorities described poisoning dogs as “an obsolete method of control.” In Peru its use is routine.

Lucky before treatment

Lucky with new owner

Pancho was picked up in a market by a Canadian missionary's wife. He was named after St. Francis, who inspired her husband to change his mind about having a dog. Pancho had lived on the street for three years, covered in a crust of mange, and was finally caught because he was so weak he could not walk. When cured, he was found to have scars from lacerations all over his body.

Mange is one of the main reasons why dogs are abandoned in Lima. Reduce the prevalence of it and you will see far fewer strays. In response, Vida Digna gives talks in community kitchens and schools about its prevention and cure. Ticks, fleas and lice are other juicy subject we address. I spend so much time in shanty towns talking about mangy curs that sometimes I fear people will suspect me of being a retired Maoist.

I am often asked by the press how many strays there are in Lima. The Health Ministry declares that Lima has one million dogs that it considers abandoned. From its perspective, all dogs in Lima are considered abandoned. Mine, yours, the Kennel Club's included. Not only the Luckys and Panchos. This is the rationale that justifies the use of strychnine. We went to battle over this last year, meeting with members of Congress, with good response Right, Left and Centre.

I don't know if there is a Peruvian equivalent of the saying “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride,” but there should be. The Equines Commission of Vida Digna rescues horses acquired for a pittance and on a whim. Last year we found two mares in such a state of starvation that the vet's report warned they would not live ten days. The owner (a television personality) maintained he had had difficult times lately but that God was good and would provide. A stalwart policeman enabled us to “remove” the mares from their paddock. The mares are now safe in their secret haven.

Now I don't want to give the impression that it is only Americans, Canadians and some English woman who act on behalf of animals in Lima. Our valiant secretary receives about forty calls a week at the office, and we receive about as many emails. We have dedicated volunteers who have almost broken their backs building the dog shelter, and who are essential to running it. This confirms our knowledge that Peruvians do care for animals. What many often lack is information, and of course, enough money to pay a vet.

So what Vida Digna offers first is education. Every year since 2001, through Acción por los Niños, Peru's largest NGO working for children, we have given talks on animal preventive health care to pupils from a thousand schools from all over the city. The subject is so popular with the children that we disrupt the following sessions the children follow us out of the door asking more questions! One girl of about twelve in San Juan de Lurigancho fixed me with a serious stare and said: “This is so important! We are always being told we have to be kind to animals, but they never tell us how!”

But education alone will lead to frustration among those who cannot afford vets' fees. So we also have to facilitate these services. We are currently working with the Lima City Council and Medical Missionaries International to organise low-cost human and animal health events in Villa El Salvador and San Juan de Miraflores. Later in the year we will be offering the same services outside the capital.

We are organising a permanent low-cost veterinary service programme with municipal councils and local vets to run in the poorest areas, offering solutions to the problems that cause animals to suffer and lead people to abandon them: mange and parasite prevention and cure, vaccination and, finally, spaying and neutering. We will lower costs by buying inputs wholesale, and asking for a nominal fee from each person to pay the vets, who should then earn a reasonable income when working with a large population.

And how do we pay for this? We have a growing base of members who provide monthly fees of S/.15. Many people become “godparents” to a dog at a cost of S/.30 a month. We collect what we English call jumble to sell in what you Americans and Canadians call garage sales. The ever-staunch Anglican Church holds Animal Blessings and has a collection box for us in the Cathedral.

Spaying and neutering costs only S/.50. To cure mange you need about S/.10. With that alone you can change an animal's life. Like Lucky and Pancho, you can take them from a life of desperation on the street to a happy home. So if those of you who have spent the last few minutes thinking about fleas, ticks and mange are now itching to help, you could always give us a donation … Many thanks.

contactenos@vidadigna.org, www.vidadigna.org Tel.:261-2228 (mornings)

Vida Digna Interbank account (savings/nuevos soles) number: 057-300502844-0

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