Anastasio May, better known as “El Gabacho”, has lived twenty of his 48 years at the municipal garbage dump, in a little cardboard room surrounded by piles of garbage, pungent bad smell, hundreds of black vultures and millions of flies. He and two other men arrived there two decades ago hired by a private company to separate metal and other recyclables. The job didn´t last very long, but they stayed there, in a way abandoned by that company. All these years they have made a living from picking and selling aluminum waste and other metals. All these years, they have consumed cheap alcohol quite heavily.

Living there, they have witnessed countless times how abandoned, starved and fearful dogs come around the garbage piles looking for food. The garbage dump has always been an easy “option” for those who wish to discard their unwanted pets. Some just leave them and drive away, and some tie them up to make sure they will not follow them back home. Gabacho and friends tried to help many of these dogs, and they have also seen a lot of them die.

During the last 6 or 7 years, we have visited the garbage dump every year or two, and rescued a few puppies that we could catch. Every time it was heartbreaking. Usually there would be a dozen or more dogs staying close to the cardboard house where the three men Gabacho, Don Pato and Coco Loco resided, but these too were generally in pitiful conditions. Dogs dumped there don´t live very long, but they are quickly replaced by newly abandoned ones so there is always a large amount of them. Those who survive do so by dominating an area of the dump, probably stealing poultry from ranches in the vicinity, and also hunting wild animals.

Last year, when we went there with members of IFAW, we found a much different situation for those animals closer to Gabacho and friends. They were not looking bad, really, relative to what we had seen before. We don´t know what allowed or inspired them to have this improvement; it may be that suddenly there was more food available, or maybe the fact that Gabacho was staying mostly sober. Whatever it was, most of these 15 dogs and 9 cats were in fairly good shape. We offered to spay/neuter, vaccinate and de-worm them, and treat what was treatable. We did euthanize one male dog with horribly advanced transmissible venereal tumors. Having returned without him did not please them at all. After much explaining and showing them photos of the tumors, Gabacho understood we put the dog down to help him avoid a long painful death. After all, he had seen many more die slowly before. But what he deeply regretted was not having been able to bury him, right there where he had buried all those others that had touched their lives. It was then that we realized how deeply they cared for their dog companions.

During the last 10 months, we have visited them about once a month and rescued the new arrival puppies before they got mangy beyond help. In the beginning, we asked them if they would let us find a home for Cirquera, a very small, Maltese type dog, who was actually quite sick with erlichiosis. Suggesting that she might be more fragile than the rest, we planted the idea of a new home for her, and Don Pato, the older guy, quietly said that if it was better for her he would think about it. When we returned Cirquera 3 weeks later and saw how happy she was to be home with Don Pato, and we watched this man´s face filled with pure joy when we handed her back to him, we realized that Cirquera was exactly where she was happiest. Found at ease there, she resumed her old habit of catching flies.

That same time Gabacho told us that La Burra (not a donkey but a stubborn dog) had had puppies. We went with him to where she had her den. Obviously she found her own spot, but Gabacho had helped by clearing the broken glass around it, putting a blanket on the floor and a bowl with clean water for her close by. When she saw us approaching, she growled at us quite menacingly, but when Gabacho touched her she was totally comfortable. He held her and her babies very gently and lovingly, and she seemed to be smiling.

It would have been hard to imagine that we would have ever wanted those dogs to continue to live there, had it not been for the sincere affection that we witnessed between all of them. These men have a deep connection, a healthy bond with their dogs that would be desirable in people who purchase expensive breeds and live with a lot more comfort. They watch them, enjoy them and share their lives, shade, water, food and space with them.

But now they have to part ways. In a positive effort to deal with the garbage situation, the City has given the concession of the garbage
processing to a private company. There will be no pickings, no people living there, and of course, no dogs.

Don Pato died of a stroke a couple of months ago, and the remaining two will have to leave the site in just a few days. At a time when he is about to lose a place to live and a way to make a living, Gabacho´s biggest concern is the dogs and cats. He wakes up in the middle of the night thinking about it.

Up until now, their future is very uncertain. Yesterday we learned that the new company could possibly hire them, which would be great but nothing is settled. We want to make their story known because we have watched them and developed appreciation for them. Through the way they care about those dogs, their sweet nature was made visible. We feel for them because they will lose their friends and we are concerned about how they will live.

Tomorrow we will take their dogs and cats out of there and bring them to the shelter. We will try our best to work on making them adoptable. They are so adapted to a life in a pack and living in the open, that they will require a lot of help. They will miss their people and their ways and their freedom.

This is a video to illustrate this story. We hope you enjoy it. Dump Dog Video - Very Powerful
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSknWN7ltJ8