Lola's Dogs in Mexico

HOW DID I GET HERE?

On a long term van tour of Mexico I was headed back north from Oaxaca to cross into Baja. I had sold my house back in Georgia and had what was left of my "downsizing adventure" and my 2 dogs in the van. In Sonora on one of those long desert highways someone came out of nowhere and Tboned the van, flipped us over and crushed everything.

My 2 dogs (Brady 13, and River from Veracruz 2) were thrown clear somehow and were found the next day by a farmer in the desert. Minor cuts only, they were fine. I survived. Some bangs and bruises. We were all a little traumatized. The guy who pulled me out of the shattered windshield kept saying 'Que Milagro!' (what a miracle)

I was taken to an odd little town on the Sea of Cortez where houses are built out of pallet wood crates and there are no services. A tall handsome guy in a fedora had a concrete cabana near the sea and he let me rent it for some inflated gringo price but still. He was very kind. Many people helped me collect my things off the highway, and lots of guys crawled inside the van looking for my passport, phone, wallet and other things that had been tossed around. I had been on the road for a long time though and was pretty organized, I was grateful. At the wrecker the next day to check for any other personal items the van had been stripped of things like seats, glovebox, steering wheel...the insurance company had already deemed it "unrepairable" even though I'd sit around in the desert for another 6 weeks waiting for any payment.

While I walked around looking for stuff to eat, a taxi (don't have) a cafe (don't have) or a fresh mercado for fruit (don't have) I was struck at the dozens if not hundreds of stray, limping, starving dogs with giant ticks hanging off their bodies. What fresh hell is this place?!

Walking on three legs, covered in mange, lots of eye infections. Despite all of this, these dogs were friendly and happy to have some WATER and company and of course food and care. There was a big front porch at the casita and shade is also at a premium here. Every single one of them stayed on the porch for a couple months. We all walked the beach together in a huge pack daily. No one walks dogs or treats them as family here. They are pests and treated like pigeons. I've seen a lot of neglect in Mexico but this was on a scale that I couldn't ignore. My porch became a bit of a Dog Salon and Diner. And where they congregate, more will follow.

A 2004 Toyota minivan is a great find, but not worth more than $4000. You can buy a car here "not legally" as a foreigner and hope you don't leave the state. Or go back to US somehow (there are no busses here or transit and what of the dogs and my stuff? It's not a lot but it's too much to carry) buy a car there and pay another $400 for a permit and wait for residency which changes monthly during Covid. There were too many variables and it would all cost way more than $4000.

So I just found another rental with a fenced scrap yard from the cousin of the guy with the fedora and her dad and a little attached office or tienda that they no longer use and it's the dog rescue. It's a rough place but I have a makeshift kitchen, AC, good water pressure and a patio where we can do spay and neuter clinics. Did I mention there's not VET IN TOWN? And no furniture sold. Or lumber. Or deliveries. I do not even have an address. I'm 3 hours from Hermosillo and I can order stuff to be dropped at a shipping place and pay to have it couriered in. Mostly I just don't. I have found a vet who drives here 2x a month on weekends and brings us meds and checks everyone and in the meantime, I'm it. Like triage, I just try to keep things stable.

And here we are.

I feel I've been dropped here on my head (literally) I believe I was put here to help these animals. It's definitely not the Mexico charm I'm used to but guess what? That's not this chapter. An Unplanned Mission (from Dog)
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