Pets

     Val has two wonderful dogs and two wonderful cats. The dogs are named Bonnie and Waggley, and the cats are named Tom and Jerry. The dogs are well behaved, they deal with people nicely, they occasionally bark at animals walking down the street, but they are what pets are supposed to be. The cats like a nice lounge, they hunt, and again, are pretty much a textbook pet cat.

     This is not true for other dogs (I rarely see cats). From what Val tells me, the vast majority of ex-pats treat their dogs like they should. However, the ex-pats make up a small percentage of the Zambales population. Most Filipinos keep their dogs in a cage with a foot long chain keeping them there. If they don't do that, they have them unleashed and just behind the gate. And most of the time that isn't an issue. But gates are big and dogs are small, so now you have a brand new stray dog. And they are vicious. If another dog passes by, they bare their teeth, bark, growl, and other not-nice things.

     Side note: I have been walking Bonnie and Waggley with Val since I have gotten here. Apparently, issues, i.e., loose dogs, have been arising only in the past few days. But it's probably not my fault. I hope.

     Anyway, Val and I walk the dogs, and unfortunately there is only one route to the field we let them loose in. And on this route, there is one house with a gate that has a hole big enough to let one of their smaller dogs out. And it is mean. And yesterday, there were a handful of dogs without any restrictions whatsoever. Most defended their territory and barked as we walked past but didn't do much else. There was one in particular that followed us for a while, and the whole time it did, it was mean.

     Good dogs are great, but mean dogs are incredibly scary.