Puppies and Poop.

A Ted Post:

A long standing issue at our flat is the dogs next door. You may remember shortly after our arrival stories of the mother dog and her eight puppies. There has not been much good news to report except for the tremendous love that Eden, Hope and even Trey (at times) give to them.

Seven of the puppies left our neighborhood in November but one (by name of 'Mocha' if you ask Eden or Hope or 'Cheese' if you ask Trey) remains. The mother and son duo wander around the nieghborhood, hang out in our yard, eat some of our table scraps, hide on our front porch when it rains and steal the occational shoe or toy from us.

Amy and I are worried about what happens when we leave. The neighbors aren't showing much interest and the doghouse in their backyard hasn't been available to both dogs in months. There are too many beer bottles and trash.

We considered 'adopting' Mocha-Cheese and bringing him back to the states, but then found out the cost. For anyone considering transporting a dog halfway across the world, a full service company will handle all the details for around $7,000. Then we noticed a couple of weeks ago that 'Momma' (the dog, that is) is again pregnant. We stepped up our search for options.

To our suprise (and relief) their is a Botswana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA). Eden and I checked it out during the week.

They house lots of cats and dogs, some bunnies, three donkies, some goats, and a sheep.

Eden, Hope and I returned on Saturday to volunteer. I was thinking we could walk a couple of dogs, pet some cats, sit with the bunnies. They had different ideas...When we checked in at the office, Kay (the office manager) said she was glad to see us and asked if we were ready to work. We said yes. She had me pick from two different shovels (an odd tool for walking dogs, I thought). She then lead us to the donkey/goat/sheep pen. It was empty (they were wandering around the entire place). The shelter however, was not entirely empty. It was full of poop. Lots of it. This was our task. Good thing I wore my brand new (birthday gift) white shirt.

While I shoveled and dumped, Eden and Hope helped feed the several dozen animals at the shelter.

After feeding the animals, Eden even chipped in to help with the poop - see video below.

We came home dirty, tired, but feeling good about the place itself. We wish we were also feeling good about the fate of the dogs and future puppies next door. The BSPCA has promised to pay the neighbors a visit, but so far they have not come. We have heard the neighbors may be leaving and the dogs going to the village where the neighbors come from, but if that does happen, it almost certainly won't happen before the new litter of puppies is born. Eden and Hope have already picked out names for up to 10 of them...