The Animals of Chile

People love their pets.

That’s not a controversial thesis statement for a blog post, but they can’t all be gems. Let me try again.

Animals, specifically canines, bovines, and felines, played an out-sized role in my Chilean experience.

There. That’s a little better. Just a little.

Starting with canines as that was one of my first observations. There are a lot of dogs in Chile. Every time we were out and about, there were people walking their dogs. Now that’s not strange. It’s not like Canada doesn’t have its share of dog-walking public.

What was unusual, to me at least, was the fact that people let their dog off-leash regularly. As I mentioned in my previous post, there was a large urban park, Parque Araucano, across the street from our condo. I woke up the first morning we were there, went to the balcony to enjoy the view, and saw multiple dogs running around. From my vantage point, I could see what I assumed were the owners, but the distance between them and the frolicking puppies was quite a distance. Fifty feet? A hundred feet? Nor did the owners did not seem concerned about where the dogs were roaming or what there were up to.

That’s not how North American dog owners act, not in a city. Heck, Oakville, the city I lived in before I started traveling, is smallish at around 160,000 in population. Cities have created fenced-in areas where dogs can be off-leash. Unleashed dogs found any place else are subject to fine. I have seen people walk their dogs without a leash, but as soon as they see someone coming the opposite direction, the leash gets snapped back onto the collar.

In Santiago (and Buenos Aires too), letting dogs roam free was normal. And not just in the park. A large percentage of people would walk their dogs along the sidewalk leash-free.

I found this surprising. I’m picturing my territorial little dachshunds off-leash on the sidewalk. Their demonstrations of ferocity would terrorize people’s ankles. But there was none of that in Santiago. Every dog I met along the way was well-behaved. No overt aggression, no incessant barking. Perhaps it’s just what they’ve become used to, but it was strange it was to see.

People’s love for dogs went even further in Santiago. There were dogs in places I’ve never seen before. People would take their dogs into shopping malls. On leashes, yes, but there were enough people in the mall that I took note. And not just malls. Restaurants too. People would sit at their table with dogs on the floor next to them. Or, at least in one case, on the seat next to them. Nothing I had witnessed before.

People’s love for dogs went even further in Santiago. There were dogs in places I’ve never seen before. People would take their dogs into shopping malls. On leashes, yes, but there were enough people in the mall that I took note. And not just malls. Restaurants too. People would sit at their table with dogs on the floor next to them. Or, at least in one case, on the seat next to them. Nothing I had witnessed before.

Dogs weren’t the only animals that were encountered. The other two were part of my partner’s experience. She runs ultramarathons and while we were in Santiago, she would go to the foothills to train. The paths she took were hiking trails that ran through the mountains. Over the course of a little more than a week, she encountered two different animal species.

The first was a little disturbing. As she was running along, a largish, tan-colored cat ran across the path she was following, about thirty feet in front of her. Large in this case was not house cat large. It was cougar-sized. A guide mentioned to us that pumas roamed through the foothills. This was one of them. Knowledge, in this case, didn’t prevent the surprise. Seeing one up close, even if running away from her, changed her mind about continuing in that direction.

The second (and third) encounters were a little less distressing. Again, running along a mountain trail, she ran into a cow. Not literally. Standing across the path she was taking, casually eating the grass on the edge, was a cow. The across the path part is important. The cow blocked her way forward.

Keep in mind, she wasn’t running through a farmer’s field. These were mountainous paths. So was this a wild cow? We couldn’t think of a more appropriate designation. Making it worse, when she approached the cow, it was not… um… cowed. It didn’t want to move, nor did it seem willing to allow her to pass. And cows are large enough that you don’t want to annoy them. Even more so where there was a calf grazing nearby.

Wild cows are not in our bailiwick, so we couldn’t even guess where they came from, much less what they might have done if agitated. Charged at her? Mooed loudly? My partner chose retreat as the best response. A smart one, we both agreed afterward, especially as she had alternative routes to the summit.

I can say with certainty that I had little expectation that animals, both domestic and wild, would be a part of my first visit to South America. Hadn’t given it a thought. At a minimum, these anecdotes illustrate the variety of everyday habits that people take for granted. Seeing these differences in person is one of my main reasons for traveling. Santiago accomplished that goal.