Achieving One Health means finding ways to help both animals and people whenever possible. Recently, our team was alerted about an elderly woman living in extreme poverty with her nine dogs. We responded to the call for assistance and visited Ms. Carmen, accompanied by the social worker handling her case. None of the visitors spoke fluent Kichwa, and Ms. Carmen did not speak Spanish. The little they understood painted a grim picture of loneliness and despair.

We explained to Ms. Carmen that her dogs needed veterinary care and should be sterilized. She responded that she needed her dogs to reproduce so she would always have company. Even when neighbors poisoned her dogs, their offspring would survive and stay by her side.

To address this, Amici Cannis will conduct awareness campaigns with local authorities and the woman’s neighbors to stop these harmful acts against her dogs. Our goal is to ensure Ms. Carmen feels safe enough to agree to the sterilization of her pets.

As Ms. Carmen became more comfortable around our team, she invited them inside her dwelling. There, they discovered the body of a dead puppy, no older than 10 days, between her blankets. One of our technicians dug a hole in the ground and gently placed the puppy in it. He then stepped aside to let Ms. Carmen cover the body with dirt as she recited words in Kichwa, part of a ritual she learned from her ancestors.

This Friday, the community is coming together to help clean Ms. Carmen’s dwelling and secure a mattress, clean sheets, and blankets for her and her dogs. With the social worker’s support and Amici Cannis’ assistance, we hope to raise awareness within the neighborhood so that help is sought before the need becomes dire.