Flaco was an emaciated, broken-spirited dog with torn up ears living on the streets of San Diego, Nicaragua, and he is the reason why NicaLove was founded. He awoke something in me, something powerful, something called to action and something that grew bigger than I ever imagined.
We began visiting Nicaragua as a family back in 2014. Our love for the country was immediate and we continued to visit and explore the communities of Nicaragua. Upon each return trip, I became more emotional witnessing the poor health of the animals that crossed our paths. You could almost feel their pain and see the despair in their eyes. This pain and despair needed attention. Unfortunately, the vast majority of domesticated or working animals in developing countries lack basic veterinary attention. With the daily income of a farmer or sugar cane worker being $8 or less a day, many families often have no choice but to “neglect” their animals. Low socio-economic status is the primary reason the welfare of animals is too often neglected and negatively impacted. These facts didn’t sit well in my stomach and it pained me to think about the suffering beyond what I could see with my own eyes.
I noticed Flaco on one of our earlier trips. He was always in the road, near a sharp turn on the way to our favorite destination: Gran Pacifica. He often congregated with other dogs under a large shady tree where water would settle in the dirt after rain. He seemed to roam with a pack of neighborhood dogs. I found my self constantly wondering if any of these dogs had homes.
In mid-2017 we purchased a “casita” up on a hill in San Diego. Our Nicaraguan neighbors’ family dogs often visited, which we loved. During our first stay in our new home, we met Flaco. He came from our neighbor’s side of the property alongside one of their dogs. He seemed to know our property and he made himself at home after we shared a few of our leftovers. We assumed he was a stray because of the shape he was in and we began to feed him regularly. We inquired about who he belonged to and it seemed he once lived with a farmer up the road. It was shared with us that because Flaco wanted to be at our house, he was now ours and we were told that the owner didn’t mind. This was confusing to me, he was ours now? Pet ownership in this rural Nicaraguan area is wildly different from pet ownership in the United States. Flaco’s condition was disheartening. Flaco was emaciated with old and new wounds, inflamed skin and he was full of ticks, fleas and parasites. Perhaps they couldn’t afford to feed or care for him I thought to myself, why else would he be in this shape?
In the beginning, Flaco was aggressive towards other male dogs, very protective of other female dogs and barked at the air, constantly. Time after time, he would do his share at impregnating the neighbor’s female dogs… I believe this is why he always had wounds on his nose, ears and head. Presumably, he was constantly being hit with who knows what to fight him off their female dogs. This form of “birth control” was not an unusual practice in low socio-economic communities where basic animal welfare is lacking. His nose was always bloody and swollen with new wounds almost daily. His ears were split in many places from previous cuts and they were always inflamed and sore. His head was very sensitive to touch out of fear of being hit. He didn’t know how to be pet but wanted to be around us. Regardless, we were happy to have him around. We figured at the very least, he would be a well fed and cared for guard dog. We had no idea he would end up becoming a loving hammock potato and an all time favorite pet of our children. Flaco seemed to have adopted our family as his own and, at the same time, I became very protective of him perhaps to make up for the many years that Flaco lacked love and care.
Flaco grew to feel safe on our property and due to the care he received, we got to experience his personality blossom. He really grew on me and I often found myself watching him on our security cameras, wondering what he was doing while I was back in the United States.
Flaco greeted us with the biggest “doggy” smile and his wiggling stump of a tail every time we returned. It was as though we had never left. I found that I missed him constantly while we were away.
Flaco was not young, most likely eight or nine years old. He had never experienced the love he deserved until he met our family. He had never received daily meals, clean water, shelter, a gentle hand or unconditional love from a human. He hit the jackpot with our family. I made a promise to show him the life he deserved and the consistency of all things he had lacked prior to adopting us, of which he never lacked again.
My three girls fell madly in love with him and he became part of our family. We looked forward to seeing him upon our returns and while we knew he was cared for while we were gone, we felt guilt leaving him behind. Strangely he always seemed to know we were returning and was the first to greet us as we pulled up the driveway. Flaco is the reasoning behind NicaLove.
And with Flaco’s inspiration, during the winter of 2017, we hosted our first sterilization clinic in Playa San Diego. We addressed Flaco’s health issues, he received his vaccinations and he was sterilized. In early 2018, I brought Flaco to another animal clinic with us. He needed a hernia fixed and he had a blood filled sack on his stomach removed. This blood sacks would burst every so often and then fill up again. Later I learned it was a hemangiosarcoma, an aggressive type of blood cancer.
January 3, 2020 upon our return for an extended trip, I inspected a tumor that my husband had noticed a few months back. It was an open wound where a blood filled sack once was. The wound was open and Flaco licked it constantly. It appeared be very painful, which was confirmed indicated by the new limp and his rapid decrease in energy. Our friend, Dr. Lester Tapia, had told us during the last clinic that this was type of cancer and would need addressing at some point. It progressed much faster than expected and upon future inspection by Dr. Tapia, we learned what we didn’t want to hear. The cancer had progressed significantly and our boy, Flaco was in a lot of pain.
We humanely euthanized him later that day. This wasn’t something we had planned. I hadn’t prepared my mind for this. It hurt me more than I had imagined. I cried for hours and for days following. I felt that I had failed him. I was grateful for his love. I was grateful he was surrounded by unconditional love during his last breaths. I promised him that day, in his name, that I would do everything in my power to continue to help animals in Nicaragua feel less suffering and know more love.
On March 3, 2020 I left Nicaragua, with the COVID-19 pandemic on our heels. I left knowing he would not be there upon my return. He was buried on our property overlooking the ocean in the distance.
Flaco finding his way to our family not only brought so much love to our lives but it also profoundly changed my views on my life purpose. Flaco taught me that I can make a positive impact on animal welfare, regardless of where I am. I will fight for him and as long as I have it in me, I will continue to fight for him.
