Artist Olga Gonorovsky’s tribute to the murdered French Bulldogs of Criadero D Kasta
New Years Eve is a time for all of us to look back at the year that has gone by, and to look hopefully towards the future. However, for Tania Cáceres and Angel Aguayo of Quito, Ecuador, New Years Eve 2013 became the day when their entire world came crashing down.
Tania, who breeds French Bulldogs under the kennel prefix “D Kasta”, is understandably distraught, but she took the time to explain to me what happened on that evening. Zeeba Sanchez translated for us.
On the night of December 31 we were at home with family. My kids were in their kennels like every night. We Waited until 12 am to celebrate the new year and then continued talking at home.
At 1am approx , we received a call that we did not answer because it was family time , about an hour later we listened to the message, which said mockingly “Happy New Year Dkasta ” .
Before we went to bed around 3:00 a.m., I looked through the window at my (dogs) and everything seemed normal. The next day I woke up with the mom who (had nursing puppies) , and we went outside together to give her a break and let my (other dogs out of their kennels) like every morning.
As I walked closer I did not see the normal lifting up of heads or greetings. I discovered they were all dead.
Because of the despair that I felt upon discovering my dead children, I did not realize that the mom who came out with me had found a piece of sausage on the lawn and had ingested it without my realizing it. She died in my arms while I tried desperately to save her by giving her milk and oil. A recipe I had heard was effective to apply in these cases. The poison was so strong that in less than 5 minutes after her initial pain, she was gone like her brothers and sisters.
In total, Criadero D’ Kasta lost twelve dogs – the nursing mother, her siblings, some younger puppies, and the American Bulldog guard dog meant to ‘protect’ the French Bulldogs. In all of the kennel runs, pieces of poisoned sausage were found next to the corpses of the dead dogs (warning: disturbing imagery).
The shock, horror and heartbreak of experiencing something like this is literally unimaginable, but what happened next has thrown Tania and Angel even further into despair. Ecuadorean authorities are unable to prosecute anyone for this crime, because what happened isn’t even actually a crime. Tatiana Packer is researching this further, but it seems that under current Ecuadorean law, there is no enforceable law currently in effect to criminalize the abuse or even murder of dog. Furthermore, Ecuadorean journalists aren’t even interested in covering this story, because poisoning deaths of dogs in the country are an increasingly common occurrence – common enough that the press feels the public has lost interest in hearing about them.
I can’t imagine living in a country where the poisoning of dogs is such a humdrum event that the media aren’t even interested in covering the story. Then again, with the rate that dog park poisonings are on the rise in Toronto, San Francisco and other parts of North America, that day might not be too far in the future.
Angel and Tania have been overwhelmed with the support they’ve received from the world wide French Bulldog community, but it’s time to spread their story to the rest of the world, and to do this, they need your help to get justice for the murdered French Bulldogs of Criadero D Kasta.
Here’s what you can do:
- Sign the petition to the change the laws regarding dog crimes in Ecuador.
This petition will be sent to Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa. amd to the Government of Ecuador, asking them to create and enforce laws making harming or killing dogs a crime. The petition is in Spanish, but you can sign it in any language, and signatures from around the world are welcome and encouraged. Signers from the USA will find their country listed under États-Unis.
- Tweet this story, and your outrage, using the hashtag #JusticiaDkasta , and follow JusticiaDkasta on Twitter.
- A well known European breeder has offered to donate two French Bulldogs to Tania and Angel, to help to fill the terrible holes left in their lives. Like me, Zofia does not ship her puppies cargo, and the cost of having a puppy nanny hand carry the two new pups from Poland to Ecuador is almost $3,000. If you can, please donate to help to cover their travel costs.Note: I have used this same puppy nanny, and can attest that their services are skilled, caring and second to none. I can also attest that this sum seems minimal, considering what I paid just to bring two puppies from Europe to Canada, a journey of half the distance. I would not share this fund raiser if I did not have complete confidence in Zofia, the puppy nanny, and the organizer of the fund raiser. I know that there are others who have offered to send puppies (including one heart breakingly generous offer from an Autistic girl who offered to donate her own pet French Bulldog), but I don’t know any of them personally, and don’t know anything about any fund raising efforts other than this one.
- Network and Share! Re share this story on Facebook, Twitter and on your own blog. Do you have friends in media, in publicity, in the entertainment field? Ask them to share this story. The more voices me make heard, the better the chances for justice for the dogs of Criadero D’ Kasta.
- Join the Facebook Page – Justice for the French Bulldogs of Criadero D Kasta
Updates on the case, along with photographs and news, will be shared via this page. A lot of government officials pay close attention to how many ‘likes and shares’ stories like this get on Facebook. Let’s use that to our advantage.
Please note: There are a lot of photographs relating to this case, including graphic and disturbing shots of the dogs. I’ve chosen to use only one graphic photo, but to me, the one that best illustrates the heart breaking depth of this loss is the one Tania put on her Facebook page. It shows the view from her patio before New Year’s Eve, December 31st 2013, and her view today.
I look at my own dogs, and I can’t imagine the immeasurable hole that would be left in my heart, and in my life, if all I saw were the empty spaces where my dogs had been.
Thank you to Tatian Packer, Criadero D Kasta, Richard Rockford, Zofia Buczkowska, Zeeba Sanchez and everyone else who assisted with this post, and who has set up the fundraisers and petitions.
