LIVE from the Camino Found a dog on the way to santiago

[Jordan J]

Hi all, walked to Santiago today and had a really weird experience. We found a stray dog which for some reason decided to walk with us for 10km into Santiago. When we reached the outskirts of the town we attached our trekking pole to his collar so we could walk him safely. When we found a local pizzeria we phoned a kennel service (servigal) and someone came and picked him up. Just wondered does anyone know how I could get in touch with them as I would really like to know how he's doing. If nobody claims him I would gladly keep him! See photos attached!

We called him dale after my friends brother who we are doing the walk in memory of. It was quite strange as he had a limp in the same leg as my friends brother, quite a strange camino experience!

Any help is appreciated!

Jordan

 

[Jordan J]

 

[Tincatinker]

Looks like a Beagle cross and probably bred for hunting, with a limp it will be considered surplus to requirements. Servigal provide stray dog collection services in the area. They seem to be based in A Coruna

Contact details: Alto de Bens, s/n | 15010 A CORUÑA | 981 263 093

From their website: http://www.laceriaservigal.es/

Best of luck

 

[dougfitz]

I'm sorry, but if I put myself in the position of the dog's owner, I think I would be justifiably extremely annoyed at this.

1. The dog is clearly not a stray. It had a collar and from what can be seen from the photos, is in good condition implying that it is being regularly fed. Although it might have walked with you for some distance, as beagle or beagle cross, it is a hunting breed. It would have had no difficulty finding its way home, particularly if it regularly follows pilgrims.
2. You then effectively put it on a leash, removing any freedom of action it might have had to leave you and return to its owner.
3. To add to that, you then contacted a pound service. Whatever for? It doesn't sound like the dog was annoying anyone or behaving in any way that would have been a threat to humans, had not been hanging around as a 'stray' any longer than the time it was with you.

You might want to ask to what extent the dog was encouraged to continue walking with you, even if just by petting it and paying it some attention. Worse if it had been offered treats that would have provided additional encouragement. Was there any point where it was discouraged from continuing? I don't know of many dogs that would continue if it was clear they were not welcome.

I sincerely hope that you find that the owner has been able to recover this animal, and when you do, you volunteer to pay the pound fees.

 

[peregrina2000]

I am not a dog expert, in fact I know nothing about dogs, but I was a volunteer in the pilgrims office a few weeks ago when a couple of people walked in with dogs they had "found" on the Camino, and I got an earful.

Bottom line -- you should never give a dog food or do anything that will make a dog follow you. If a dog starts following you on the camino and it is clearly not a stray, do whatever you need to do to make it turn back. This may involve finding someone who will take over, stopping at a bar, etc. As one of my Dutch friends said so pithily -- if you are happy to be walking with this nice dog, you can be sure that somewhere some family is crying about their lost dog.

 

[Thomas1962]

Had the same experience on the portugues. A dog walked with us for km's. It happens more often, these dogs probably do this daily. Often get a lot of attention. Sure they know their way back.
Be aware that Spain has a really different culture with dogs.

 

[Pelegrin]

"Thomas, post:

"Be aware that Spain has a really different culture with dogs."

In rural Spain, depending on the context, maybe. But in the cities it's just the same than in Amstedam. New York, etc. and of course, much better than in Harare (Zimbawee) (I think).
Visit a park in Madrid, Santiago, Barcelona... and you'll hear the same owner's coversations about their "little jewels" that are chasing you while running.
I agree with Peregrina that it's better not let the dog to follow you. The dog could have problems to return.

 

[Jordan J]

Ok, my bad. Just trying to help it out. We stopped at a cafe for ten minutes and it waited for us. We never fed it until we reached the pizzeria where we decided to get it sent to a pound. As far as I'm concerned we did the right thing in our eyes. It was cold, crying and limping, we obviously couldn't take it in so we thought the pound would be the best idea. It wouldn't leave us and we didn't want to see it get run over in santiago ( we already saw a cat get run over on the way) .

 

[Kanga]

Ok, my bad. Just trying to help it out. We stopped at a cafe for ten minutes and it waited for us. We never fed it until we reached the pizzeria where we decided to get it sent to a pound. As far as I'm concerned we did the right thing in our eyes. It was cold, crying and limping, we obviously couldn't take it in so we thought the pound would be the best idea. It wouldn't leave us and we didn't want to see it get run over in santiago ( we already saw a cat get run over on the way) .

Hey people give over! How about a bit of procedural fairness? Jordan I'm sorry you were judged before having an opportunity to put your story properly.

 

[dougfitz]

@Kanga, I am not sure what power is being exercised that requires the application of the procedural fairness principles, nor is it clear to me that they have been breached.

Unlike the cases where as pilgrims we have been asked to avoid certain establishments who don't have a presence on this forum, @Jordan J is a forum member and knows the content of the discussion. It is difficult to see how you might assess anyone might be biased in this, and the discussion has turned on the content of @Jordan J's own post, not on some hidden material @Jordan J cannot see. It seems to me that this those circumstances, all the key elements of procedural fairness - knowing that the discussion is taking place, absence of bias, and reliance only on available evidence - have been met.

Further, in this case, @Jordan J has had the opportunity to clarify the original story, something establishments which don't participate in the forum don't ever get when they are being criticised here.

 

[JennyH94]

Jordan - in my view you did the right thing - completely. You ensured 'Dale's' safety and you got him to an appropriate facility where he could be properly cared for - that's paramount. Hopefully he was micro-chipped, as most dogs (and cats) are here in Australia and he could then be scanned and his owners notified.
I say - Good On You.
Cheers - Jenny

 

[Saint Mike II]

Jordan - this is often a case of "damned" if you do and "damned" if you don't. Here I think it would have been better to have told us (forum people) the whole story (the part you added in your second post). As a dog lover my mother would have said that you have done the "humane" thing. You have showed that additional care factor by trying to follow up on the dog's wellfare.
Woolf!!

 

[Jordan J]

Thanks guys. I should have been more clearer in my original post but I can see where you're coming from. We begin our walk to Finisterre todat from Santiago, we've only just woken up and its 12:06. This is going to be eventful.

As for dale we have been in touch with the pound and they are going to update us whatever happens! That was our original hope that he was microchipped and his owner finds him.

Buen camino

 

[dougfitz]

This is such a wonderful thread. Every time I read it I am transported to a parallel, almost Disneyesque world where animals have human emotions, taking a domestic animal away from its owner isn't called animal rustling and potentially inflicting completely unnecessary pound costs on an unsuspecting member of the community is appropriate pilgrim behaviour. So far, nothing I have seen dissuades me from thinking that this was irresponsible.

We called him dale after my friends brother who we are doing the walk in memory of. It was quite strange as he had a limp in the same leg as my friends brother, quite a strange camino experience!

You gave it a name! Did you also encourage it to respond to that name, play with it when you took a break or anything else that might just remotely have encouraged it to stay with you?

It was cold, crying and limping, we obviously couldn't take it in so we thought the pound would be the best idea.

Humans cry. Dogs bark, bay, howl, growl, whine and whimper, but none of these equate to the human behaviour of crying. If dogs generate tears, it is because something has irritated their eyes. It's a physiological, not an emotional, response.

We stopped at a cafe for ten minutes and it waited for us. We never fed it until we reached the pizzeria where we decided to get it sent to a pound.

It wouldn't leave us and we didn't want to see it get run over in santiago.

Funny that. It appears you have not discouraged it from walking with you for 10km, dragged it into a strange town on a makeshift leash, fed it pizza and you are now wondering why it won't leave you.

Jordan - in my view you did the right thing - completely. You ensured 'Dale's' safety and you got him to an appropriate facility where he could be properly cared for - that's paramount.

@JennyH94, I don't buy that. All that has happened here is a problem has been created which isn't easily resolved, and the option that is least inconvenient and least expensive to those involved has been chosen. Taking it back by taxi to where it had joined them is another option they could have chosen, but its not clear from the narrative we have been offered whether that was even considered. Fixing a problem of your own making clearly is the right thing to do; I just don't think it was done the right way.

 

[Jordan J]

This is such a wonderful thread. Every time I read it I am transported to a parallel, almost Disneyesque world where animals have human emotions, taking a domestic animal away from its owner isn't called animal rustling and potentially inflicting completely unnecessary pound costs on an unsuspecting member of the community is appropriate pilgrim behaviour. So far, nothing I have seen dissuades me from thinking that this was irresponsible.


You gave it a name! Did you also encourage it to respond to that name, play with it when you took a break or anything else that might just remotely have encouraged it to stay with you?


Humans cry. Dogs bark, bay, howl, growl, whine and whimper, but none of these equate to the human behaviour of crying. If dogs generate tears, it is because something has irritated their eyes. It's a physiological, not an emotional, response.




Funny that. It appears you have not discouraged it from walking with you for 10km, dragged it into a strange town on a makeshift leash, fed it pizza and you are now wondering why it won't leave you.


@JennyH94, I don't buy that. All that has happened here is a problem has been created which isn't easily resolved, and the option that is least inconvenient and least expensive to those involved has been chosen. Taking it back by taxi to where it had joined them is another option they could have chosen, but its not clear from the narrative we have been offered whether that was even considered. Fixing a problem of your own making clearly is the right thing to do; I just don't think it was done the right way.

Ok next time I'll just leave it to get run over. Sure the owner would prefer to see his dog dead than to pay the kennel costs.

 

[dougfitz]

Ok next time I'll just leave it to get run over. Sure the owner would prefer to see his dog dead than to pay the kennel costs.

Really. I suspect you know full well that that would have been unlikely. It would have been even less likely if the dog had been closer to its home.

 

[Jordan J]

Really. I suspect you know full well that that would have been unlikely. It would have been even less likely if it had been closer to its home.

Know full well it would have been unlikely? We walked 10km and it wouldn't leave us at all. When we walked into the city we thought it would be best to put on a lead as we'd already seen one animal hit by a car on the camino and didn't want to see another one.

This forum seems so judging and pretentious at times. I only wanted to know the details of the pound and you all come here thinking you're the bee's knees telling me how wrong we were to do what we did. I've just walked from St Jean to Santiago with a 16kg backpack and you know something? Every minute was amazing. I was told so many times it's too heavy and all this stuff but the whole camino I wasn't bothered once. i've decided that i'm going to keep off this forum for a while. All you people seem to do is worry and stress other pilgrims out.

Message to other pilgrims. Enjoy yourself and do what you want!

 

[JennyH94]

This is such a wonderful thread. Every time I read it I am transported to a parallel, almost Disneyesque world where animals have human emotions, taking a domestic animal away from its owner isn't called animal rustling and potentially inflicting completely unnecessary pound costs on an unsuspecting member of the community is appropriate pilgrim behaviour. So far, nothing I have seen dissuades me from thinking that this was irresponsible.


You gave it a name! Did you also encourage it to respond to that name, play with it when you took a break or anything else that might just remotely have encouraged it to stay with you?


Humans cry. Dogs bark, bay, howl, growl, whine and whimper, but none of these equate to the human behaviour of crying. If dogs generate tears, it is because something has irritated their eyes. It's a physiological, not an emotional, response.




Funny that. It appears you have not discouraged it from walking with you for 10km, dragged it into a strange town on a makeshift leash, fed it pizza and you are now wondering why it won't leave you.


@JennyH94, I don't buy that. All that has happened here is a problem has been created which isn't easily resolved, and the option that is least inconvenient and least expensive to those involved has been chosen. Taking it back by taxi to where it had joined them is another option they could have chosen, but its not clear from the narrative we have been offered whether that was even considered. Fixing a problem of your own making clearly is the right thing to do; I just don't think it was done the right way.

Doug - I respect the judgment of the people involved in what was a most unfortunate occurrence towards the end of their camino.
I live on a busy road and I have been witness to an incident where a dog who ran out through an open gate was run over - it's something I never want to see again.
The dog's owner failed to provide a secure space for their pet - Jordan and his friend dealt with the resulting circumstances of that lack of care in a wonderfully caring way, IMO.

 

[naplesdon]

As a dog lover and former breeder I would love to comment but my thought would probably get me banned from the Forum. Everyone is wrong and everyone is right, so let's just say we've beaten this puppy to death and it's time to move on.

 

[Tincatinker]

I am locking this thread. The arguments have been thoroughly set out. Posters should strive to avoid direct personal criticisms, no matter how strongly held their beliefs.