Chile Forum

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Thank you for those, um, ideas. Let me back up a bit and explain some background.

1. I am looking for a chemical compound here in Chile that is cheap that will keep dogs away. My first choice would be something nonlethal, but that point is quickly becoming negotiable.

2. We are in Chile.

3. What does "we are in Chile" really mean?

4. It means that high-falutin' technology-oriented solutions are not likely to provide the answer here, and not to be found for any reasonable price. And the motion-detecting squirtgun idea... cute.... it fails to mention that it detects and squirts for people and not just dogs, so people using the thoroughfare in question would not appreciate getting hosed down. And that is assuming that there were water to this area. And there isn't.

5. "We are in Chile" also means that if by some miracle an effective, efficient device might be found and installed, it would be FOOKIN STOLEN long before the first dog might have come by to laugh at the product.

6. Let's up the ante. See this cute little puppy? Unless y'all find me a big bag of effective, persistent, and inexpensive dog-repelling chemistry pretty damned quick, this cute little puppy gets a double-tap of matched hollowpoints at 450 m/sec right between those cute little fecal factory puppy eyes. And the other puppy, too. And the other one. And the bitch that begat them all.

Oh how funny and clever. Reality is for folks to stop looking for a quick-fix and support an aggressive spay and neuter program. Aggressive as in, a public relations push to spay and neuter or face round-ups and extermination? A close family member of mine was in Kosovo with the UN. He was part of what they dubbed "Operation Mexico" (for some sick reason) on a monthly basis. Patrols went out periodically and shot all dogs running loose. He is haunted by this to this day. All the talk about shooting dogs...desparate, yes...but also ridiculous. Unless you get to the basic problem, there will just be more.

A friend of mine here in Panama says the best repellent is another dog, however, some dogs are traitors. She has found that a fermented concoction of chombo peppers and garlic (which she uses to combat insect infestations) deters dogs around areas where she sprays it.
Very important that it is fermented.

Vicki and Greg Lansen wrote:A close family member of mine was in Kosovo with the UN. He was part of what they dubbed "Operation Mexico" (for some sick reason) on a monthly basis. Patrols went out periodically and shot all dogs running loose.

Did he say why it was done? It might have been for health reasons. I have read accounts that (in earlier decades) when Australian aboriginal settlements had a significant increase in human sickness, the administrator would shoot all the stray dogs, which would promptly result in a significant decrease in human sickness.

Andres wrote:

Vicki and Greg Lansen wrote:A close family member of mine was in Kosovo with the UN. He was part of what they dubbed "Operation Mexico" (for some sick reason) on a monthly basis. Patrols went out periodically and shot all dogs running loose.

Did he say why it was done? It might have been for health reasons.

We did the same thing in northern Saudi Arabia in 1990-91, during what the US forces called Desert Storm. No dogs or other furry animals allowed inside the compounds. They were usually chased out of the compounds and into a zone of approach that had been cleared and then dispatched there. Didn't happen very often. It was for health reasons. Of course, we had bigger health problems at the time, like the V-2 missiles masquerading as Scuds and the French masquerading as Coalition soldiers.

Vicki and Greg Lansen wrote:A friend of mine here in Panama says the best repellent is another dog,.

Uh, hello ! That is how we get MORE little doggies. Maybe nobody in Panamá knows about the birds and the puppies.

Vicki and Greg Lansen wrote: She has found that a fermented concoction of chombo peppers and garlic ....

Yes, and a small mixed salad with cracked pepper, grated cheese, and croutons. Garlic attracts these fooking dogs. They associate garlic with food - fermented, putrified, in a box, with a fox, anyway you serve it up. That is how we poison-baited dogs in Canada, because the stinking rotting garlic carries for bloody miles and masks the poison. I don't want to feed these things, I want to repel them with some good old inorganic, non-food chemistry. And soon, or that black and white one gets it tonight.

Try my grampa's recipe kerosene with camphor.

If the bandits still get around spray them on the face, they will never get close to a place 'protected' with this smell.

Good luck.

abdi wrote:Try my grampa's recipe kerosene with camphor.

If the bandits still get around spray them on the face, they will never get close to a place 'protected' with this smell.

Good luck.

Can't spray the animals in the face or elsewhere - these are semi-wild dogs. Up to this point they seem to be seeking petroleum-scented locations to urinate on. Let's see if camphor is....hmmm.... another Arabic word in Spanish.... hmmmm.... nope, not available here.

Thanks for the ideas.

The puppies will get one day of stay of execution. I am trying some calcium hydroxide at the crime scene. It is supposed to annoy dog feet and noses.

Ya veremos.

patagoniax wrote:

Vicki and Greg Lansen wrote:A friend of mine here in Panama says the best repellent is another dog,.

Uh, hello ! That is how we get MORE little doggies. Maybe nobody in Panamá knows about the birds and the puppies.

I guess I should clarify...a good dog that has been fixed.

As for the extermination of dogs in Kosovo, it was explained to me that the rural and street dog population exploded from time to time and the dogs became aggressive over food, not to mention diseases. Unfortunate.

No mention of encouraging, sponsoring or developing a spay neuter program? I think there are several which have been successful in reducing the number of street dogs in different places in Chile. During the Chaiten volcano emergency, hundreds of pets were left behind though not voluntarily. We ended up helping a team of vets from Santiago round up cats and dogs (a few rabbits too). They spayed and neutered night and day. I will be curious to see what the wandering dog situation looks like there now.

One vet stayed after things cleared up there. She seemed to do a brisk business spaying and neutering when people came back and brought in more animals. People can learn that this is a better solution.

The spay/neuter clinic close to where I live is booked solid every other month. I see a noticeable difference in the number of strays. Now we just have police hunting down and shooting Ngnabe indigenous people. (We just are coming out of an eight-day complete shutdown here...no gas, in places no phone service, roads blocked, shit burning...but that's another story).

Vicki and Greg Lansen wrote: spay/neuter.....

Useless in this culture. The local Neanderthals won't get behind it, though a few of the more enlightened have periodically tried to promote such programmes. And anyway when those good city people (Natalinos mostly) have excess dogs they tend to dump them at the edge of our village. There are literally more dogs than people here. The dogs kill off the wildlife, bark all night at their imaginations, and foul everything, including our water supply. A true plague.

If the chemistry doesn't work, the condors and caranchos will soon be feasting.

Vicki and Greg Lansen wrote:During the Chaiten volcano emergency, hundreds of pets were left behind though not voluntarily. We ended up helping a team of vets from Santiago round up cats and dogs (a few rabbits too). They spayed and neutered night and day.

It sounds to me like a significant waste of resources.
Resources would be better applied by shooting the cats and dogs, rescuing wildlife in need then using the vets to assist wildlife.
Or don't Chileans have much knowledge, respect and affinity for their wildlife?