Buddy - A Love Story

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At the end of December, Antigua Street Dogs received an email from a family from Montreal that had fallen in love with a dog they encountered while hiking Acatenango

Volcano. The challenge was that they were at the end of their holiday and scheduled to leave within a week. They needed someone to board the dog until they could return to Guatemala to bring him home. Since ASD’s primary focus is providing low-cost spay and neuter clinics, I shared the email with Gaby Alvarez, ASD’s outstanding clinic coordinator.

Gaby immediately contacted and reached an agreement with Andrea. “Andrea was absolutely incredible,” Gaby said. “She was always willing to do whatever Buddy needed. She covered his boarding, food, and veterinary consultations. She also paid for diagnostic tests to determine the nature of the mass on his neck, which turned out to be a sialocele—a condition that causes no physical issues, only cosmetic ones.”

But getting Buddy off the volcano was no easy task. He was used to roaming Acatenango and living the life of a street dog—or more appropriately, a volcano dog. A previous rescue attempt had failed because Buddy refused to let anyone catch him.   During the second attempt, Wicho & Charlie, a travel agency from Antigua Guatemala stepped in to help. They provided transportation and a guide to accompany José, the rescuer whose mission was to bring Buddy safely down the mountain.  The task was a hard one that required a lot of effort and patience from the entire rescue team.

Finally, on January 28th—almost a month after the process began, Buddy was captured. It was a very cold afternoon, and the rescue team had to chase him deep into a ravine before they were finally able to catch him. Once secured in a kennel, Buddy was carried down the mountain on a trek of approximately three hours to base camp.  From there, he was transported to San Antonio Aguas Calientes, where he spent the next three months receiving plenty of love and care from Gaby and her husband, Andy.  During his stay, Buddy lived alongside their other dogs while all his medical needs were addressed. Gaby also provided weekly updates to the family in Canada, keeping them informed about Buddy’s recovery and progress. 

After his initial recovery with Gaby, Buddy went to stay with Alyce at Antigua Pet Services for his pre-flight preparation. Antigua Pet Services has successfully exported more than 100 dogs from Guatemala and specializes in crate training, flight paperwork, and helping pet parents navigate airport check-in procedures.  Because Buddy still had some behavioral issues that Alyce felt were important to address before he joined his new family—including excessive jumping, rough play biting, and dog aggression—she enlisted the help of Marjolaine at El Chucho Feliz, who is also an ASD board member, for pre-departure training sessions. 

Buddy’s new mom flew in from Canada for just one night to collect him. By then, Buddy was ready: crate-trained, medically cleared, and equipped with all the paperwork needed to begin his new life.  On May 6th, Buddy finally made the journey to Canada and is now enjoying his new life.

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Antigua Street Dogs is very happy to have played a part in giving Buddy a second chance at life with a loving family.

However, the big heroes of this story are Andrea and family.

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