Sunday, January 10, 2010

A Fine Line



Just before returning to Grenada, I went to Chapters Book store in Ottawa in search of books Maya and I could read together, I stumbled across Watership Down by Richard Adams. At the counter the salesperson approved of the books I selected but hesitated with Watership Down. He said he wasent sure this novel was appropriate for an 8 year old as there were many rabbits that met their death. Words spilled out of my mouth without thought: “I think she can handle it her dog was poisoned a few months ago and another one shot last year".He watched me bug eyed. There was a big line up behind me and no time to explain. Therefor this blog is dedicated to the salesperson at Chapters who I left wide eyed and hungering for a story:

Puppy, Palo, Brother, Shake, Coco, and Tricksy are the names of the dogs we have lost to poisioning over the years. Palo was the exception, he was shot last year when a farmer caught him and another dog chasing his sheep. I have not doubt the sheep would have been killed if the gun didn’t go off. Palo was chasing after and about to kill a neighbour's livestock and his livelihood. I was grateful Palo died a fast death and not the usual torturous death by poisoning.

there are many reasons why dogs are poisoned regulary here in the Village, such as: people getting fet up with being accosted by dogs on the road while walking, biking, and or runnning; dogs chasing and biting up people's livestock like chickens, goats, sheep; some people poison for revenge, a dog for a dog.

Last week a set of village dogs were killed because someone lost his/her patience and set poison on consecutive nights. Both our nieghbours' dogs were killed causing much grief as both Rambo and Spider were survivors of other hard ailements that dogs face here like the skin disease, mange or abuse of other forms, ie. spider survived being chopped by cutlass on his back, and a lash of stone to his head by unidentified people.


Theo and I are also guilty of planning a poison attack after our goat Gabby was attacked by a small pack of dogs in the middle of the night a few years ago. By the time Theo and I jumped out of bed Gabby had already been punctured with teeth marks in her belly and legs. She then spent three days and nights underneath our house bawling in pain until she died on the third day. We thought the vet had cleaned her wounds and she was on the mend. But she was dying not mending. We hated those dogs and talked about purchasing poison and rolling the bright pink poisonous pellets into bread and throwing it to one of the dogs who we were sure led the pack. In the end we did not succumb to our anger and used the poison to get rid of the rats instead. But we did get so far as to buy the poison. I guess my point being there is a fine line between the poisoner and the owner of the poisoned.

We also have watched our past dogs die a slow excruciating death by rat poison. We were able to save one of our dogs, Cocoa the first time by pouring a jug of sugar water down her throat and watching while the pink pellets poured back into the world. However she was killed three months later by poisioning again. I was tempted to put big notice on telephone pole in front of the suspected dog poisoner's house which read “beware dog poisoner in the area” I didn’t because I wasent sure it was him.


I am not sure why there is not more community discussion about this problem. For example finding alternative solutions then killing each other's dogs. Perhaps fear of confrontation, false accusations, built up anger over the years. Perhaps there is so much more to fret about then dogs being poisoned like how to keep moving forward in these economically hard times. For now we keep our dogs tied in the night and pray they do not bite anyone or kill anyone's livestock when they are not tied. I also find myslef reflecting on the layers that run deep in all of us and why we do what we do when faced with anger and injustice.

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