I wish I was writing to tell you we had a great trip up to Yuma, collected our gear, put Lucy to bed for the winter, and had a trouble-free border crossing. I wish I could tell you we were happily ensconced in our San Carlos home, working hard on Shannon’s Spirit in preparation for a fabulous cruising season. Oh how I wish I could tell you these things. But, I cannot.
We did have a good trip to Yuma and we did pick up our gear and put Lucy to bed. And, on Saturday morning, we even crossed the border without any difficulties, got our new Visas and the TIP for the truck. It was early in the morning and we hadn’t had our coffee so we decided to stop at a Pemex/Oxxo (gas station / store) about 20 miles south of Nogales. That’s when the day fell apart. That’s when our journey crashed to a halt. That’s when everything we had been planning fell away.
While I was in the store getting coffee, Kathy put on Sophie’s leash and lifted her out of the truck. They had taken only two steps when, out of no where, a large black dog attacked Sophie from behind. Kathy was able to hang on to Sophie but she and the dog engaged in a battle… Kathy’s goal – to save Sophie, the dogs goal – to very obviously ravage and kill her. This is not one of my stories. This is real, so real we are haunted by the visions every hour. So real we are both in shock and Sophie is at a Vets hospital in Nogales, fighting for her life.
Kathy here…. as Carolyn said, we are both still in shock about what happened last Saturday. It is so incredible how quickly a day can change from one of celebration to one of complete horror and a fight for survival. I remember how it started. I had just clipped on Sophie’s leash, picked her up out of the truck and set her down on the pavement beside me. We had just begun the short walk together, she at a close heal, as we headed to a patch of scruffy grass over at the side of the Pemex parking lot, as CJ went into the adjacent OXXO store for coffee. It was then that I felt the presence of another dog up close behind us. Knowing that a surprise approach from even a friendly dog is never a good thing for Soph, I tugged on the leash, pulled her closer to me, and turned around to command a firm “no!” to the other dog.
It was a black, medium sized dog, and it looked like many other street dogs we had seen in Mexico over the last three years. Looking back, I’m pretty sure there was a fair dose of pit bull in there, but that wasn’t my first thought. I wasn’t even that concerned at first. But the dog ignored my presence entirely and snarled at Sophie, who snarled back. Microseconds later, the black dog had grabbed Sophie on her back, somewhere near her tail and she was yelping. I yelled louder and before I knew it I found myself on my knees, on the pavement , a few feet behind our truck, with my right arm wrapped around Sophie’s waist, my hand up under her chest, holding on for her dear life, while the black dog snarled and tugged and tried to pull her away from me. His teeth were firmly locked on to the loose skin of her back and he attempted that side to side motion that dogs at play use with their humans at the other end of a pull toy.
In the midst of the panic I noticed another, smaller, brown dog standing just off to our right, about 5 feet away. It was a spaniel cross, watching us intently, but thankfully, amazingly, did not even attempt to get involved.
I was screaming now, as was Sophie, and I know now that if I had let go for even an instant to hit, or punch, or kick that evil dog… he would have had her. With his powerful jaws he would have held her and shook her until something snapped. At one point, incredibly, he lost his grip for just a moment and I tried to scoop her up. But before I could get her out of his reach, he bit on hard again, somewhere under her tail this time, on her right haunch. At this point I could feel Sophie giving up and I went into a complete panic, unlike anything I have ever experienced in my life. “Help me! Somebody please help me!!” I had the terrible, desperate feeling that this was the end and there was nothing that I could do about it. Then, out of nowhere someone appeared beside us, made a motion of some sort and said something loudly in Spanish…. and then…. suddenly…. Sophie was free. It was a man, I think. I can’t see his face, but I remember his voice, asking me “are you OK?”. With the adrenalin and the abrupt arrival of relief, my voice exploded…. “F#*K!!… “ Then…. “Oh, sorry, yes, I think I am. Thank you.”
I carefully picked up Sophie and tried to hold her in a way that wouldn’t disturb her wounds. The rip on her back was massive on such a little body. I could see open flesh on her back and some blood under her tail, but not a massive amount. At first I thought that those viscous teeth had ripped into her anus. Fortunately, the vet later found that not to be the case. The blood was from puncture wounds on her right haunch.
As I carried Sophie over toward our truck and the OXXO store, several people approached us, speaking earnestly in Spanish and offering to help. They tried to direct me to the restroom, making washing motions, with their hands and opening the locked turnstile that is in place to collect each customer’s 5 pesos before entry. In broken Spanish, I tried to tell them that I could not use contaminated water on these wounds and that “mi amiga”, (my friend), “una mujere “ (a woman) , was in the store, and to please call her. Not understanding me, they kept asking did I need “agua” (water) and one of them went in the store and came out with a gallon bottle of pure water. I finally made it to the store, pulled open the door and shouted “Carolyn!”, “Carolyn! Sophie’s been attacked!”. With huge relief, I heard her voice, and then she came running out to us.
CJ back… having just read Kathy’s story. It’s her first real recanting of the event. We’re both still… well, still in shock I guess. I can’t begin to describe the pandemonium. People trying to help, no one speaking English and our meagre Spanish hampered by adrenalin and panic. Several people helped us. Some were staff from the store, and one woman and her two teenage daughters (who spoke a little English) really helped us by finding a Vet… the nearest one… (20 miles back up the highway in Nogales) They even called ahead to tell them we were coming. And so, numb with shock, we put Sophie’s skin flap back in place as best we could and wrapped her in a blanket. Kathy held her tight while I drove north to the Vets. It seemed like hours but in about 30 minutes we were there, they were waiting for us, and they took us right in. The Vet was wonderful. She even called in her brother to translate as he spoke English.
Sophie’s assessment included several x-rays and discussion amongst the staff as well as with us. As you may know Sophie, Miss Sophie, The Princess, PS… is not a puppy. No, she has 13 years of livin’ life under her belt. She is a sailor, a track star, and a comic. And she just adores her fold out camp chair. She is a trooper in every way… and, without this kind of an incident, has at least two good years ahead of her.The back injury was the most serious and required immediate attention. After being cleaned as best as possible, Sophie was taken in to surgery and sewn back together. The Vet told us that the leg does not need to be dealt with immediately. In fact it will require specialized surgery to create new ligaments for the knee… surgery that could wait. First, the back injury and puncture wounds need to be clean and dealt with. Drains are installed to allow the skin patch to clear and now we wait. We wait to see if Sophie will escape serious infection. If she does, the Vet feels she will be stable enough to travel in ten days. So, provided she’s still with us, next Tuesday (the 21st) we will be picking her up and high-tailing it home to Canada for her knee surgery. Sadly, a small sailboat in Mexico, is not the right place for a princess to recover (as much as she’d think she could recover just find thank you very much, sitting on her chair on the beach at Isla San Francisco). We must be the bad guys and take her home in order to give her a fair chance.
So, while our girl is in Nogales, recovering from major surgery and fending off infection (her leg is now splinted and she can even stand on it, sort of… the Vet sent us a video). We are back in San Carlos tidying up our affairs here. The boat will need to be put back to bed (once the bottom work is done) and our gear needs to be stored, etc., etc., etc., We’ll get it done and be ready to travel early Tuesday morning. I should also tell you that Kathy saw first a Doctor in Nogales and then we checked in with one here, in SC. Her knees are pretty messed up but are beginning to heal, and her forearms are looking much better. It’s the trauma of the whole thing, the re-occurring night and day mares, and the deep sadness that this should happen… that we are dealing with now.
Who knows what the next little while will bring… but we will do what we can for Sophie…. and will let you know when we know, what the next chapter of ‘life’ holds.
Well, it’s now Oct. 14th. The internet connection has been down since yesterday morning. It’s up now but still unreliable so, while we have the chance… we’re trying to give you a post and an update. Sophie continues to improve… at the same time we are all waiting to see if the skin will survive and/or infection will kick in. We continue preparations for leaving here and are happy to report that, finally we have acquired a Temporary Import Permit…. for the ‘new’ ………………………Sailing Vessel….Shannon’s Spirit. It’s a huge deal, and will be the subject of another Blog post… something to learn for others ‘changing’ vessels at sea’.
For now, we wait…. with fingers crossed… will update you when we know what our plans are… for now they are as firm as tapioca pudding.
To all of you from all of us… please… live each day, love each day, and each other. From our hearts to yours. CJ and Kathy (& PS)
