Even Miss Mali has got a new family here in Ecuador. She was greeted by all the family pets when we arrived. I believe she was a bit overwhelmed at the time and I’m sure not overly excited to be greeted by the lively puppy Miguel who was most anxious to show off his greatness to her. 
The quest for dominance has begun, but despite her exhuastion Mali was able to hold her own. Her one place of refuge would be inside the house as Miguel is not supposed to be inside. Here, like the ranches and farms back home, the dogs stay outside because they are working dogs, not pets. There is an understanding that Mali is a Canadian dog therefor used to being inside. She is a pet, but for me she is also a working dog, just not in the same way most would think. She understood, from the very beginning, that she is my protector and she takes her job very seriously. She has been an amazing companion and I owe her so much.
She was very tired, hungry and thirsty from her travels. Her journey was so much more difficult than I would have imagined, so I will have to take the rest of her life to make it up to her. It is my turn now to look after her and give her comfort in the best way I can for it is because of her and knowing that she is with me, I had the strength to come here. If you do not understand PTSD, this probably would not make much sense to you, but she gives me so much strength, enough to face each day.
I learned she spent 36 hours in her kennel. From 6:00 am on the 19th until 5:00 pm on the 20th with no obvious signs that she had been given water or food or time out of the cage. None of the bags of food that I provided, as was requested, had been touched. There was no water in the kennel and the dish that was attached to the kennel was missing. I was fortunate to have one young man at the cargo bay who was very helpful, showing great concern for Mali, telling me that she was suffering from dehydration. He went out of his way to speed up the process, but there was no consideration for her by all those involved other than this young man. He told me she was so sweet and he was very upset it was taking so long to set her free. He went out of his way for me and with his limited English gave me comfort with his understanding and compassion.
The officials at the cargo bay had me running back and forth to two separate buildings a few miles apart, requiring a taxi each time. Every trip I made I thought would be the last, but they would send me again fetching more paperwork, and making a payment each time. No one spoke English which in this situation really amazed me. In my opinion at an international airport there should be at least one person who can speak another language, but here this is not apparent. Even Willak supported me on this idea, himself being quite frustrated at the uncertainty of the situation, albeit more calmly than me. There are those who have some ability to speak and understand English here, but one could not say that is a second language for them, just what they have picked up along the way I think.
To my great relief Willak found me on my second return trip to the cargo bay. He had been waiting for me at the airport since 1:00 and it was now almost 4:00. Thankfully he made enquiries was able find out where I should be and came to look for me. He drove up behind me as I was walking past the gate to the parking lot and I have to say I was never so happy to see anyone. I was very concerned because I had no way to contact him. My cellphone didn’t work and I had no wifi to send a text message. I couldn’t help but wonder what he must have been thinking as well as how I was going to find him once she was cleared to leave.
Now that he was with me he was able to translate and get more information than I had been able to. As a bonus he saved me 2 more taxi fees as I made the final trip back and forth between offices to retrieve still more paperwork. What I don’t understand is why this information is not clearly laid out upon receiving confirmation of your reservation. There is no reason in my mind for the lack of guidelines with complete instructions for fees, places to go and approximate time for the procedure to be finished. I was told that I had to pay one fee and pick up at one place, so there was a serious lack of communication on the airlines part. As each country is different, there should be a requirement to fully detail what is required from each country, making it much easier for all involved.
I will be sending in a formal complaint to the airlines for this abuse, there is just no other way to see what was done to her. It was criminal to treat her in this way and I am having trouble calming myself down enough to write a letter that does not include abusive language, although that is what they deserve. I am pretty sure Mali would like to see her kennel dropped off the side of one of the mountains breaking it into infinitely tiny pieces never to be found again. She has shown how great her character and strength of spirit to have endured so much while still remaining calm and peaceful. Those who took the time to talk to her in her kennel were very impressed with the beauty of her spirit.
So now she is also with family and is being shown that she is welcome in this place, despite her being a Canadian :).
She doesn’t know quite what to make of Miguel, but she is tolerating his attention. She has learned that her refuge is upstairs where our room is and she understands she is safe now so is finally showing some signs of her old self, exploring the gardens while I write this entry. Now that I have given her full due, I will take her for a walk and let her stretch her legs a bit. We will however need to sneak out the back way so that Miguel does not follow us.
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