Tijuana dogs

“Dogs not Dead” by Kinsee Morlan

It’s hard to walk or drive by one of the thousands of homeless dogs in Tijuana. Not once, but twice I’ve tried to take one of them home with me.

Last night, at about midnight, I almost turned a cute little furry terrier into a fur pancake. He darted right out in front of me on Agua Caliente, one of Tijuana’s busier roads. I freaked out, pulled over and jumped out only to find he was still alive and cowering right in the middle of the road. I picked him up, put him in my car and took him home.

My bf was asleep and was far from happy when he awoke to the sounds of the poor little thing scratching at his fleas. He was even farther from happy when the dog insisted on sleeping at the foot of the bed.

I wanted to keep the little guy — I even walked to Calimax this morning and bought some dog food — but my landlord wouldn’t be happy and the dog himself was anxious to get back on the streets. I let him out this morning and he happily went on his way.

It got me to thinking about what I should do next time I can’t resist the look on a homeless Tijuana dog’s face. The solution is taking them to Baja Animal Sanctuary, but with tourism down, I don’t think many people are actually adopting the dogs anymore. My bf’s friend works at the Sanctuary and he says they’re in desperate need of leashes, food and any other dog-related items anyone can muster up. I think I’m going to stop by the Sanctuary this weekend. You should, too, if you’re in town. Here are the directions:

DIRECTIONS TO BAJA ANIMAL SANCTUARY

From the border, take the cuota (toll road) toward Rosarito

Take the first Rosarito exit

Turn left at stoplight (McDonalds is on the corner)

Go over the toll road to the top of the hill

You will see a carnitas/taco shop on the right hand corner. It is a red and yellow building,

and says “Coca Cola” on it. Make a right.

Follow the road until it bears to the right to go downhill. Go left and the street in front of you is Tlaxcala.

Follow this dirt road and it will dip down into a valley and then go up hill past a blue church on the right

Keep driving on this dirt road and after about 5 minutes you will see the sanctuary on the right hand side.

You will see a mobile home first and right after the mobile home is the wall to the sanctuary. Pull up to

The wrought iron gate and ring the bell – one quick ring is all you need to do otherwise the dogs really

Start barking a lot….

Picking out a new cat

Thanks to a blog comment, I’ve decided to get a cat. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for the last few months anyway, but the commenter says the cat will kill all my cucarachas. Purrrfect.

What do you guys think of Jackie? Jackie is my mom’s name, I grew up with a Siamese cat and the profile says little miss Jackie likes to catch bugs. I think she’s the winner.

UPDATE: The people at the shelter turned out to be jerks. I am now attempting to catch a kitten that eats trash in front of my house. She’s a gangsta kitten…I can’t wait to get her inside, get her some real food and watch as she instinctively kills each and every bug.