This is Bella aka Big Dog. She's the boss. So laid back she's horizontal.
Then there's Dougal - named for Father Dougal McGuire. Like Father Dougal he's excitable and a bit thick, even if he is behaving himself in these pictures.
And this is Sampras: "Well... you know, rabbits, tennis, you know that whole connection there." (Father Dougal McGuire)
This is Rusty - because he is a sort of rusty colour.
And, finally, in a rare display of enthusiasm Bella returns with Rusty after chasing a car. I tried to get them to chase a stick but they were having none of it.
Comments
They don't seem in such bad shape for street dogs either.
I have a question about that: Are there plenty of street dogs in Tirana as before or their number has been reduced lately (as a consequence of deciding to kill them)?
We try not to over-indulge them so they don't hang around too much. Generally it's okay but sometimes they can be a bit of a pain - like this morning when my wife dragged me out of bed at 7.10 to drag them away from our gate so that she could get the car out to go to work.
And they seem to be in good health - cold, wet noses and shiny, thick fur. Some of the other dogs look pretty bad so I don't know why these one seem to be doing better.
If there are any rich eccentrics out there, how about building a luxury dog shelter in Tirana?
Milena - there haven't been any culls of the dogs in Tirana since we got here so I don't have anything to compare it to. Our area tends to have a lot of dogs since we are near the park, but there are not that many once you get into the busier areas.
Also more people seem to be owning dogs as pets - or possibly for security purposes. There is a little pet shop near us that always has a few puppies for sale.
We wouldn't like 'our dogs' to be destroyed. Certainly, if we knew they were going to be shot we would take them into our yard. But as far as I can tell, three of the four are already neutered/speyed so they are not going to be reproducing as as long as they don't turn vicious there would be no good reason to put them down. And we would probably be happy to pay to have the fourth one done.
I think this is really the only humane solution to the problem of the dogs. If there are some that are old or sick or aggressive then they should be destroyed humanely. Those that are healthy and passive should be neutered and left alone.
Like I said in an earlier post, the dogs do a good job of cleaning up some of the garbage and they keep the rat population down. In a city with a restricted garbage collection system and a lot of standing water rats are a serious problem. We see them regularly and if it weren't for the dogs I think we would see a lot more.
I noticed in Tirana that Albanians dismiss the dogs as 'dirty'. I'm not sure what that means exactly, but they always say my dog is good because she's 'clean'. Seems like a weird say to judge poor little dogs.
It's so nice to see that you are "active" again :D
Well by dirty they mean they are stray dogs. They go through garbage, and nobody knows what kind of disease they carry.
The ones that are clean have an owner who makes sure they get fed and washed, taken to the vet appropriately.
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Alywn,
I have a better idea. How about adopting an Albanian orphan while you are there? :)
At some point they will have to do something again since the dogs that have not been treated are doing what dogs do, but I hope that someone will come up with the resources to deal the problem humanely.
ITS - sponsorship yes; adoption no. I'm reluctant to take on a dog, never mind a child.
Some do though. I met a Canadian guy the other day who is thinking about adopting a 13 year old boy - a nice kid from the brief conversation I had, but a real challenge. Good luck to them both.