I confess. I have lived for seven years with a dog whom I adorePipo, a street mutt, with one ear raised and the other always lowered, but with giant and ultra-expressive eyes. I adopted him when he was three years old after a shelter found him on a farm farmer from Huelva, wandering and with signs of abuse, and transferred him to a shelter in the mountains of Madrid.
When I picked him up, they told me that they knew almost everything about his previous life. But they were sure that he was abandoned after living in a house, because of his 10-grade manners and his good behavior with humans. With the other dogs it is another story and Pipo fails in sociability.
Obedient and calm, he never urinates on facades or street furniture. Since I love him too much to lose him due to a loss, run over, or attack by another animal, he always walks tied through the streets and parks of the neighborhood. This happens despite the fact that until now Barcelona has allowed life without strap. I, who only let him loose in the mountains or in the family country house, snort every time, like last night, I come across an unrestrained dog and a clueless and uncivil human. Above all, if, cell phone in hand, he only looks straight ahead to pronounce the magic words to a frightened passerby: “Calm down, it’s not doing anything.”
Related news
The good news is that starting today, Monday, everything will change with the municipal regulations on dogs in public spaces. Carrying loose animals is prohibited from December 18except in the 225 areas of the city enabled for this (parks, squares or stretches of street) and in certain time slots. Doing so outside of these spaces will result in penalties ranging between 100 and 300 euros.with the possibility of rising to 600 and up to 2,400 euros if the infractions are considered serious.
Compliance with the ordinance is essential to end the incivility of dog owners and to guarantee the well-being of animals like Pipo.