As soon as I posted the last entry, which began with me recounting my trip to Armenia and ended with me mocking Georgia, I felt guilty. It came out of nowhere and landed out of place and I think it left the entry on an unnecessarily negative note. But, really...
In Georgia, the world is your oyster Dumpster.
...it wasn't entirely unwarranted.
Moving on.
My best friend here has near-fluent English skills, but frequently mixes up the words "eat" and "feed", to comic effect. She has told a cat, "I ate you," and has suggested that we "take this pizza and go eat the dogs."
I like to think that it's under my influence and constant haranguing that she even cares about whether the regular cast of stray dogs that I see every day in the main street of Saguramo are well eaten (even if she still refuses to touch them). Animals here are regarded with disinterest at best and malice at worst. When I asked a fellow volunteer, a Georgian, to explain the cultural attitude toward animals, he blamed it on religion. The Bible proclaims that animals don't have souls, he said, so the fervent followers of the Georgian Orthodox church treat them accordingly.
I think it has a more simple explanation, though. Kick a man when he's down, and he'll find something even lower to kick back at. Animals present the perfect outlet for all the pent-up frustration of 20+ years of economic and political instability here that has left most Georgians, particularly men, with nothing better to do than stand in the road, shoot the shit, and perfect their aim by throwing rocks at a passing dog.
It's by no means a uniquely Georgian problem (and certainly not a universally Georgian one, either, as there are plenty here who love and respect animals). The U.S., with its puppy mills and dog tracks and overcrowded shelters that put down thousands of unwanted animals every year, is certainly no beacon of animal rights, but we are at least fortunate enough to have the luxury--the money, the time, the state of mind--to harbor a kinder cultural attitude toward animals. Why, one family I know even took in a little poodle and will bend over backwards to meet his every demand, even letting him sleep in their beds and eat their food! Yes, unbelievable, but such stories of near-subservience to animals exist in America.
I hope, as I hope for so many other things here, that in 10 or so years the situation will be different, that life in Georgia will allow for more compassion toward animals, that owning a pet will entail more than just tossing it a piece of bread in the morning and sometimes giving it a scratch behind the ears. The stray dogs here don't have it all bad; they're street-smart to a fault, and probably eat better than I do most days. I, for one, kind of like having all these dogs roaming around, happy to be pet--it's like a theme park for me. But it breaks my heart that I can't bring every stinky one of them home with me (it might raise some eyebrows at the airport), so I have no choice but to do the next best thing: take pictures of them, of course.
A little puppy some guys on the EU Monitoring Mission found in Mtskheta and took in. She'll hopefully come to the shelter next week and get adopted.
This dog in Saguramo is still too shy to let me pet her, but I'm determinedly trying to win her affections. She will come within 2 feet of me and then just squirm and wag her tail...progress.
An excited Armenian welcome.
The GSPSA team. Temuri (on my left) has completely given his life to helping dogs in Georgia.
International adoptions are still en vogue, so if anyone back home is thinking of getting a pet, there are plenty of puppies at the shelter and there is plenty of room in my suitcase!
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