The plight of Patricia is a gut-wrenching tale in search of a happy ending. It’s a true-life story wrapped around episodes of heartless neglect, noble deeds, legal actions and survival against all odds.
Patricia is the under-sized pitbull mix that was rescued four weeks ago from a vacant lot in San Antonio Tlayacapan, where she had been chained up without access to adequate food, water and shelter for about six months. Proceeding on a report from neighbors who noticed that the dog had collapsed, officials from Chapala’s ecology department and local animal protection activists intervened to take custody of the pooch and arrange for emergency veterinary treatment.
The rescue was carried out as lakeside was taking a battering from the outer rings of Hurricane Patricia – hence the name given to a remarkable critter that inexplicably weathered a stormy history.
Since then the pup has been under the tender loving care of Chapala vet Mayra Ibarra Mendoza. After initial examination, the prognosis was poor. She was suffering from severe hypothermia, anemia, dehydration and chronic starvation. She was literally a bag of bones, weighing in at just seven kilos, about one-third of what is considered normal for her frame. Ghost-white gums were among the symptoms of imminent death.
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