The Mexican Connection - The Dumping Grounds

In the end our society will be defined not only by what we create, but by what we refuse to destroy ~ John Sawhill

Together with Laura Sandoval from Animal Advocates I traveled with her across the border from California to Tijuana, Mexico, to see for myself what it was like at what we call "The Dumping Ground". What I thought I would see was a dump similar to that at the Morley Reservation outside of Calgary, where starving dogs live and try to survive eating garbage. What I saw was unimaginable. A large, rickety, run down dirt pen areas filled with dogs left by people who didn't want their dog. (Laura told me the people feel this is a kinder place to abandon dogs, since at the Tijuana Pound, and most pounds in Mexico, destroy by electrocuting the animals.) Here, many dogs are actually behind wood doors, trapped inside a wood box. Others are free to roam, although, they rarely have food, water, and often starving dogs due to severe hunger maul others dogs to death to eat them. Its a horrendous site, Laura witnessed one, and told me the dog being mauled just looked at her in her eyes, pleading for help. Laura said she could do nothing, there were many large dogs ganging up on another and she had no way to stop a vicious attack of starving, frenzied dogs.

From the outside of The Dumping Ground, you would never know the sadness and insanity of this dirt pit. Walking up to this corner of a curved avenue of speeding cars, is a tow truck yard. Behind the rickety wood gate, you'd never know, there are darling little puppies, purebred dogs, sweet and gentle mixes, all innocent and hopefully looking at you when you peek through, that you will give them attention, food, and let them out.

Right next to the gate are two large plastic barrels, for of all things, throwing in puppies! The heat is unbearable, most end up dying in there due to extreme heat, but prior to that, they try over and over to climb out, which is impossible. Pina, an angel is what I have come to call her, often pays for a taxi to take her to this place so she can check the barrels. She is the Only one that does! She takes any that are alive back to her house, if you can call it that! (see photos). Her house has no roof, is on a steep hillside, the extreme sun in summer and very cold in winter, is no home. Nor does she have any furniture, running water, or electricity! She pulls a mattress out of a closet-like area at night. This is where she takes the dogs and cats she takes from the dumping ground.

Back to The Dumping Ground...walking through the first wood gage, puppies and sweet young dogs come excitedly running up to you. These are some of the most precious dogs I have ever seen. The next very chewed wood gate had a head of a dog peaking through, the story of fright, desperation and loneliness in his eyes. This is one of the dogs I chose to take out of there. Lucky me, Laura told me we could take four. Four! there were dozens of wonderful, starving dogs! I ended up taking six (quickly tossed two extra ones in the car that I "accidentilly" let escape out the gate.) See photos of some of the ones rescued that day.

Back inside...on the far right, where i could see eyes looking at me. They were in something that looked like a wooden jail. They could not get out. This is where the sick ones were placed to die. Where no one ever went. Laura said to me as I was trying to look in "you don't want to see in there". I felt frantic, I was told to pick four and we had to leave! Trying to quickly pick four amongst the dozens that were pleading, was agonizing. Memories of the slaughterhouse in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, years before, where I scaled a barbed wired fence to rescue a few of the dogs doomed to be electrocuted the next day. That's what they do in Mexico. It's cheap. Cost $1 a dog to humanely euthanize a dog, but few pounds find a way to do this. Thousands upon thousands are killed this way, and it should not be so, it must end. This is no way our human society should put to death unwanted companion animals. (or any animal). It is Extremely terrifying, hopeless, and painful for each animal. (Fur farmers do the same in Canada and the U.S., China does even worse.) By the way, Do Not Wear Fur, even on hoodies!

Together with Animal Advocates we are trying to do two things of high importance: raise money for each dog to the very least, die with dignity and a humane death (not that that is what we want!), we prefer to save them, so we are also funding a temporary shelter to take rescued dogs to, prior to vetting and transport to California and on to Canada for adoption. View our Happy Endings pages to see many of the fortunate dogs in loving homes in Canada.