Bobbi died in Catemaco

A truck killed him.

200 meters of barbed wire fence, reinforced with sheep wire did not keep him in. He wanted the wilds of biting the tires of trucks passing in front of his terrain.


I miss him, and probably so does my pinche perra, my remaining complacent dog.

Bobbi was with me for almost 3 years. Adopted as a street dog, he was known around Catemaco as a street fighter, loving to take a bath in the laguna, and rolling himself in any dead carcasses he could find.

Although I frequently held my nose on approaching him and tolerated his growls, he was part of my family, and I miss him.

This is my last photo of Bobbi, about 2 weeks ago, doing what he loved.

Catemaco is a bitch

How the hell do you tell your partner to dump a starved, mauled puppy on mother´s day in beautiful downtown Catemaco?

Easy! You shut up and add an extra mouth to your dog biscuit bill, and hope your friends pick up the discount variety stuff at Sam´s Club in Veracruz.

This is going too far. I already am the sole local sponsor of a local human orphanage. Unwed mothers are rattling my doors. My partner regularly doles out monies to people unable to buy medications on the vaunted Mexican Social Security plan.

And hundreds of dogs roam Catemaco streets. Everybody has a dog, or maybe five. And most owners live in hovels barely large enough to house two human adults. And most of the limping, scurvied, ragtailed, flea bearers roam at will, adding their feces to to what is already a rather unsanitary Laguna Catemaco shore line.

Catemaco desperatly needs more Gringos to move here and adopt dogs. If the Mexican government were in accord with its canine constituents, the time and money consuming visa requirements for Gringos would be waived for anyone willing to "adopt a mutt".

That would be a humane solution and would help alleviate the immigration problem of Gringos illegally crossing the Mexican border and clandestinely owning mutts rightfully belonging to the Mexican national patrimony.

Catemaco dog tale

Here in beautiful downtown Catemaco hundreds of dogs wander the streets: big ones, little ones, pretty ones, ugly ones, hairless ones and ---- tail less ones?

A curious adjunct to the local macho culture is the cutting off a puppy´s tail if the dog is too aggressive.

As part of the package of changing into a new rental home, I was offered the dog. I took the offer to provide a playmate for my Pinche Perra. (another Catemaco street dog that managed to find a "rich" gringo. She naturally has chewed up his ears to demonstrate who is boss around here. So now the poor dog misses a tail and Pinche Perra is working on his ears. I´m about ready to tie spurs to their front paws and shout "Ole".

Meanwhile I wonder about what I could cut off the next person I catch doing a chop job on a male dog. Any suggestions?

Catemaco dogs

3 years ago I stumbled on a starving, chain entangled mutt late at night on a Catemaco side road. She turned out to be a sick, tick and worm infested 95% Siberian Husky (1 blue and 1 brown eye) and I tried for several weeks to find her owner. Noone ever came forward! So she now lives with me and allows me to feed her.

Two months ago, my partner stumbled across a hurt puppy and it was love at first sight and a close relationship with an out of town veterinarian. The SOB chewed up my sofa, my shoes , my Pinche Perra ears (that´s the name of the first dog) and my computer cables. And he was simply adorable, cuddly, loveable, responsive and feisty.

Early mornings, before sunrise, I walked the two of them on Catemaco´s malecon and marveled at the puppy´s love of taking a swim in the laguna. My truck needed repair today and Pinche Perra and I decided to take the puppy for a swim in the afternoon. And the two gamboled along the little bit of beach in front of where I live, chased each other and shorebirds, nibbled on peoples’ leftovers and pissed on every upturned lancha (fishing boat).

And then the puppy chased Pinche Perra onto the Malecon´s street traffic and the puppy left us. So we buried him on my property in a small fenced area overlooking Laguna Catemaco and planted two beautiful flowering plants on his feisty little body. One for him and one for my partner who really loved that mutt.