Dog Heaven
Posted by Angela Airey Towle.
Email: angela@crbeach.com. On 07/12/2008. 201.202.24.218

I have cringed at some of the descriptions I have heard of Jaco. This is my town and I love it. For years my response has been to slowly shake my head and say quietly, "that's not the town I know. But then, I never go out after dark." Until recently, I thought this was enough of a reply, but now I am thinking otherwise. I am tired of the negativity. Let's look at some of the tourist meccas in the world. We have Venice, floating on sewage and sinking to boot. We have Amsterdam, world renowned for its Red Light district, and yet respected and visited by many other tourists as well. Those who come for the canal tours, the art museums, the clean streets, the robust, honest, practical people and … suddenly I realize what we should do. We have prostitutes here, just as they do in Amsterdam. We have crime here, just as they do in every town on earth. We have infrastructure nightmares here, while bridges and dams collapse due to non-scheduled maintenance in the United States, or poor design in French Canada. Let's stop quaking in shame and rejoice. Even while development has shot up around Jaco, still the same good people care and continue to work for the better good. I think of Patricia. When she arrived, sanctioned poisoning sprees would take care of the mass of wandering wild and scrappy dogs once every year, just before ‘tourist season’ kicked in. With quiet determination, 'Trish' began by collecting and spaying or neutering all orphans and then fostering them and finally adopting them out. Katya, in conjunction with The McKee Project, took on the crusade, taking over from a worn down Patricia [who still has wonderful dogs for adoption] and a great team of volunteers, including dedicated big-hearted Doris (of Great Dane fame). Truly, I would say, my Jaco can be partly described as a 'Dog Lovers Heaven'. On any given morning, before most normal people are raising themselves off their pillows, the dogs gather (along with their owners) to run off steam on Jaco Beach. It's a new term in dog training: 'socializing', but any dog owner with half a brain knows that a well behaved dog is one who has leapt and frolicked with his/her friends till physically tired. Then man's greatest friend trundles along behind his beloved owner, content in the knowledge that the priorities of the world are as they should be. We, owners, in the meantime, have started our days out, not only awed by the glory of each central Pacific coast morning, but also aware of the friendships that support us through the rest of the day, for snippets of passing conversation with other dog owners include news, 'how to's, updates, encouragements and warnings. So, we traipse off to the rest of our day, fully updated and more capable of handling whatever awaits us. These days most modern cities have internationalized, assimilating peoples from far and wide. Vancouver, in Canada, has an Asian feeling that can cause you to wonder if Hong Kong floated in and tied up overnight. The mixing of cultures is always a good thing (especially if you like eating out) and that's clearly apparent in Jaco too. People move here to start afresh, the brave people, the people who think and dream and don't get trapped in traditionalism. This is a good thing. For we invent new recipes and solutions to new and old problems. We group together through organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, and offer to help in the most needed areas. In all of the great places throughout history, people stumbled and fell and picked themselves up and asked questions and listened and kept right on believing in a better tomorrow. The dog situation has improved so much as to be unrecognizable from how I found it a mere seven years ago. Think of all the new changes, the better resources, the stronger alliances of good people offering their experience to better the journey of those who follow. Look around you, talk to the dog owners. They'll tell you how it is!