Dogs

Stray dogs are everywhere in Pompei. My heart breaks every time I see one, which is on every fourth street corner, except in old Pompei where they were shading themselves in every house. Sadly, I’m becoming obsessed by them for more reasons than one: I miss Radar, I find myself empathizing with them, I want to rescue all dogs. There were three in the train station where we tried to exchange our tickets this morning. According to Antonio, when a family no longer wants a dog, they turn it out into the street. State law prohibits euthanizing them, so, essentially, they become property of the state. Only about 2/3 appear to be mutts. The rest appear to be full breed dogs and probably cost someone some money.



Antonio says people feed them, put water out for them, brake for them, still I want to reach out to them and take them home. Unfortunately, most of them have fleas and many are ill, so I don’t dare. They have no fear of people and can sleep in a small corner of a room or building while 20-30 people stand around talking or doing business. If I had my way, I’d come home with a hundred dogs.