The sad destiny of pets in Venezuela: the street or death

Rosa Strefezza is pursued daily by the thought of death. But not yours but that of his 14 cats and three dogs, because with the crisis, it became a sacrifice to maintain them.

– I can not get rid of them like that – the voice is broken – but I do not know if I will have to do it and it hurts, this whole situation hurts me, but I should send them to sleep because I do not want them to suffer for anything and I do not want to throw them to the street. Sometimes I tell my husband "you make the decision" but I know what it will affect me. It's hard and strong.

On average, a six-kilogram cat consumes three kilos of food a month, obtained in Venezuela by some $ 21. Three pounds of dog food cost USD 26 in Venezuela, while in the United States, its price is around 15 USD. The minimum wage, after the latest increase, is barely $ 20.9, depending on the official currency, which is actually less than 6 USD on the parallel market, the only one to which the majority of Venezuelans have access.

In the past ten years, Rosa has collected cats who have left her at the door of her house or who have been received from Venezuelan migrants or other people who could no longer provide for themselves. not to be left on the street. He also has parrots and turtles, with which he reaches 20 pets.

The economic crisis has forced her to stop giving them gatarina and she is now giving them dog food, sardines and rice. But it's not a cost-effective option either he has to spend nearly 7% of his income to buy a kilo of sardines.

– In the spirit, it's gone to put them to sleepbecause I say "no one is going to take care of them better than me or the way I have them". For me, they are a member of the family. They get sick, every day the situation is worse. The problem is that any veterinarian does not make that decision either, he does not sleep on you like that.

You can not even vaccinate them anymore because there is not enough money in a country where this type of care costs even more than in the United States. At a veterinary center in Connecticut, United States, a vaccine for dogs costs 28 USD. In Venezuela, the equivalent of 30 USD.

Although Rosa is an advertising professional, she lives off her mother's pension with her husband and their two children aged 6 and 5. He does not work because he finds it more profitable to stay at home and take care of them than to go to work. He is also suffering from depression due to Venezuela's economic crisis and is not receiving medication to treat him. Her husband is a home appliance repair technician and works while repairing a device.

Gregory Sepúlveda, Rosa's husband, testifies that, week after week, in Los Caobos, one of the most popular parks in downtown Caracas, pet dogs are abandoned by their owners.

– Every Sunday I go trotting, I meet my companions in the park and every week there are abandoned dogs. Every week, they leave their abandoned dogs tied to their fate in the trees. There are many dogs on Mexico Avenue pbading by, and these are not street dogs, they are dogs that you see as domestic dogs.

Pet owners are looking for cheaper options to feed them. In a butcher's shop in Los Palos Grandes, an endangered middle-clbad neighborhood in the east of Caracas, a prepared food for dogs or cats is obtained, as the case may be, consisting of a mixture of carapacho chopped chicken, pieces of meat, chicken liver and skin for a price of $ 0.71 per kilo. Frequent customers carry 300 kilos a month, equivalent to US $ 213, which representsalmost 36 times the minimum wage. Others buy between eight and ten kilos a week, for an amount corresponding to the black market variation of $ 2.84 per month, which is almost half of the monthly minimum wage.

For Aranza Roselló, veterinary biobadyst, the l & # 39; euthanasia, medical name attributed to the action to end the life of a human being or an animal is a difficult decision to make, but for her, it is about 39, an option before an incurable illness of a pet.

-When a person gets sick in an incurable situation, the decision will be made much faster, because of the problem of food. I had a dog who was sick for six years of a kidney problem, it was a very difficult situation, it was another country, you could get food, medicine. Nowadays, you do not get anything from that, so If someone falls sick, he will be immediately euthanized and we will not fight much for that, because we will not be able to heal him.

At one point, in the middle of Venezuela's crisis, Arantza considered becoming another migrant and did not do so because she did not have the capital to take her animals from there. company and that "falling asleep" was not an option.

Enter 50 and 70 dollars is the minimum number of veterinary procedures (documents and vaccines) required The owner of a pet must comply with the law to be able to emigrate from Venezuela to the Mercosur countries. If it is for Europe, it increases up to $ 400.

-I can not with this level of consciousness. The idea of ​​going live the beautiful life and killing them, because they are euthanized or asleep, is to kill them, especially if they are in good health. ..

In Venezuela, the price of euthanasia depends on the size and weight of the animal but starts at 20 USD. The cremation is 36 USD.
The death of animals with their own death

Since I was a child, Milagros Fernández has had animals. So today, at 71, he does not conceive of life without them. He worked as a teacher in a school for nearly 25 years.

On the death of his son 12 years ago, it was recommended to him to have animals, to buy a bitch in the belly of his mother and to pay it little by little until that that she receives it. He lived with her until the death of the animal.

He now has a dog and a cat, Panchito and Benito. Benito misses a leg. She is also taking care of another dog who is in the public areas of the building and who ran away last Christmas from the sound of fireworks.

-The crisis has affected me a lot. I bought a bag for Panchito and they cost (the equivalent of) 8 dollars a kilo and a half for the cat because cat food is more expensive than that of dogs.

Milagros lives off her pension, which equates to $ 6 a month, and the help she receives from a girl who lives overseas. But every day the money is lower than the country situation.

– Last night, I thought that there must be many families who throw the animals on the street thinking that they can survive there more than in their home because they do not even need to eat them. Maybe they are holding jurungan (check) bags in the street, breaking them and maybe having a little more survival than having them at home, because there are people who eat garbage, people who eat once a day.

– Have you thought of "lulling" the dog and the cat if you can not keep them?

-The only way to sleep them is that I am sicker than me and die. If I sit down – and my brother knows it – I told him to put both of them to bed, I do not want them to go anywhere, I'm afraid that's going to happen. ########################################################################### 39 They go somewhere and at that place they will throw them or throw them at me on the street. But I will do what I can because until now they have not missed any food, me neither …

The image of Miracles is not encouraging. He has a tumor in his head which, although not malignant, has affected his motor part of the leg and arm. He also fell near his home and vertebrae were moved. Above you, a hemorrhagic ulcer that causes problems and pain.

When did you first think of dogs sleeping because of their illness?
– I've always thought that since I started to feel very bad, I talked to my brother and told him: "Listen, if something happens to me, my daughter will t & # 39; Send money so that you can sleep the two animals. "

For these Venezuelans, as for many others, their pets are part of their lives. But there are those who, in a situation of complication, prefer to leave them even attached to a post and move on without looking back.