Dear Friends and Family,
Last week I experienced the very worst and the very best of Ethiopia.
I was walking to the school when I noticed a man playing with a bit of twine and that this twine was tied to the back leg of a dog. There was something wrong about the dog and as I watched the scene unfold I noticed what it was. The dog's leg was broken, the leg that was attached to the twine, the twine by which the man proceeded to yank and drag the dog across the road.
It was a reflex, I couldn't have stopped it if I wanted to, but I yelled "hey," as loud as I could and charged at the man. Peace Corps tells us not to involve ourselves with Ethiopian on Ethiopian crime, that we need to report it to the proper authorities, but there are no authorities for the protection of animal rights because animal rights is not a thing here. And like I said, I couldn't have stopped myself if I wanted to.
They say that passively seeing animal abuse is one of the hardest things a volunteer encounters, and I can say that from my point of view it's the hardest thing. It's watching men at market overloading the bearing capacity of a donkey. It's watching them get whipped. It's seeing the horses walk funny because something's wrong with their legs. And it's seeing rocks, twigs, and kicks thrown at the dogs and cats that make me want to get a ticket straight home and hug my pets.
Last week I experienced the very worst and the very best of Ethiopia.
I was walking to the school when I noticed a man playing with a bit of twine and that this twine was tied to the back leg of a dog. There was something wrong about the dog and as I watched the scene unfold I noticed what it was. The dog's leg was broken, the leg that was attached to the twine, the twine by which the man proceeded to yank and drag the dog across the road.
It was a reflex, I couldn't have stopped it if I wanted to, but I yelled "hey," as loud as I could and charged at the man. Peace Corps tells us not to involve ourselves with Ethiopian on Ethiopian crime, that we need to report it to the proper authorities, but there are no authorities for the protection of animal rights because animal rights is not a thing here. And like I said, I couldn't have stopped myself if I wanted to.
They say that passively seeing animal abuse is one of the hardest things a volunteer encounters, and I can say that from my point of view it's the hardest thing. It's watching men at market overloading the bearing capacity of a donkey. It's watching them get whipped. It's seeing the horses walk funny because something's wrong with their legs. And it's seeing rocks, twigs, and kicks thrown at the dogs and cats that make me want to get a ticket straight home and hug my pets.
After I
yelled, the man smiled and laughed. It took him a while to understand how angry
I was but I think he got the gist because he disappeared so the ferenji with
the ferenji power couldn't get him into trouble. I stood shaking with anger and
shock, standing over the dog, not knowing what to do. If I walked away, what
would happen to him? He was now in the middle of the road and couldn't move.
Leaving him would mean he would just get tortured more and eventually starve to
death.
And this is where the best of Ethiopia came in. I called my landlord and my counterpart. It took all that I had not to burst into tears as I explained what had happened while more and more Ethiopians came to surround me and the dog. My counterpart came, along with several other people from my school, hearing that I needed help. They called in the animal vet (who works with livestock, not pets) and they helped me load the dog onto a makeshift stretcher and then four men, taking a corner each, carried the dog to the clinic.
This story does not have a happy ending. The dog had a broken back, a mangled face, something yellow and pussy leaking out of his penis and, as if that wasn't enough, had bitten straight through his tongue. There was nothing they could do for him. I paid 38 birr to have him humanely put down.
The truly sad part is that this dog was amazing. Despite his injuries, the fact that he was being tortured, and all the painful movement to get him on the stretcher, he did not bark, snap, or even growl once. He just laid there passively and let me hold him so he wouldn't fall off the stretcher. If I could have, I would have paid anything to have saved him. But this is not America. This is Ethiopia. He was not an ox, or a donkey, or a sheep. He was a dog. He was not sick with some kind of worm or bacteria. He was mangled.
All I can hope, is those who saw, and those who helped, will take away something. If all I have achieved is that one less rock is thrown at a stray dog, then I have that at least.
Love,
Julia
(The countdown begins: 29 days until my vacation to America)
And this is where the best of Ethiopia came in. I called my landlord and my counterpart. It took all that I had not to burst into tears as I explained what had happened while more and more Ethiopians came to surround me and the dog. My counterpart came, along with several other people from my school, hearing that I needed help. They called in the animal vet (who works with livestock, not pets) and they helped me load the dog onto a makeshift stretcher and then four men, taking a corner each, carried the dog to the clinic.
This story does not have a happy ending. The dog had a broken back, a mangled face, something yellow and pussy leaking out of his penis and, as if that wasn't enough, had bitten straight through his tongue. There was nothing they could do for him. I paid 38 birr to have him humanely put down.
The truly sad part is that this dog was amazing. Despite his injuries, the fact that he was being tortured, and all the painful movement to get him on the stretcher, he did not bark, snap, or even growl once. He just laid there passively and let me hold him so he wouldn't fall off the stretcher. If I could have, I would have paid anything to have saved him. But this is not America. This is Ethiopia. He was not an ox, or a donkey, or a sheep. He was a dog. He was not sick with some kind of worm or bacteria. He was mangled.
All I can hope, is those who saw, and those who helped, will take away something. If all I have achieved is that one less rock is thrown at a stray dog, then I have that at least.
Love,
Julia
(The countdown begins: 29 days until my vacation to America)
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