Heroes and Street Dogs

One of the most incredible stories of dog heroism I have ever seen occurred last year in Santiago, Chile. A street dog was hit on a highway by a car traveling at least 60 miles per hour. The dog lay in the middle of the lane, unable to move. Another dog saw the accident, and ran from the center divide of the road, dodging oncoming traffic, to help. The courageous canine then dragged the injured dog by his paws, little by little, from the busy stretch of road.  Highway security cameras captured the incident.

Unfortunately, the hurt dog eventually died, and despite a large-scale search the anonymous Samaritan was never to be seen again. That search, however, prompted the posting of the heroic act to YouTube, catapulting it to international news, and catching the attention of Vanessa Schulz, a documentary filmmaker in Bend, Oregon. She decided that finding the heroic dog might make for a good film.

But that decision got Schulz involved with an even greater issue: in Chile, an estimated 250,000 dogs are living on the streets – starving, neglected and sometimes targeted for killing. Many Chileans are guilty of abandonment, especially if the puppies are the less desirable females, or they can’t find them a home.

On the street where I live in southern Chile, I have seen three sets of puppies dumped by the side of the road near my house over the past two years. Some Chilean towns and neighborhoods intentionally set poison traps for street dogs to exterminate them.

Schulz’s film project, called "The Lost Dogs," has hence evolved into something much more than a documentary about searching for the heroic dog. She also tells the tales of heroic people who care for dozens of dogs in their homes, or the grim facts about the life of street dogs and the lack of state support in protecting them.

Schulz arrived to find dozens of dogs were made homeless after a May 2008 volcano eruption near the town of Chaiten, located in northern Chilean Patagonia. Earlier this month after another research visit, she flew back to Oregon -- with seven street dogs. Some of them are from Chaiten, and she hopes to find them homes in the US. For more information on the film and to learn how to adopt some of these dogs, visit the site of this promising documentary, www.lostdogsfilm.org,

On a related note, a movement to make this Sunday, July 26, "World Street Dog Day" is underway on Facebook by a 19-year-old Chilean in Santiago. Already, more than 160,000 people have joined the cause. The idea is simply to use the day to raise awareness for the plight of these helpless animals, as well as seek out local street dogs to give them a grand banquet of food and water.