Introducing Negrita (A.K.A. Weeti)

Told in the collective first person, jointly from Stu and Janell Clarke's perspective.

Narrated Audio Blog

This is Negrita, or more affectionately known as Weeti...

We've known Weeti for a little while now. Our paths first crossed during Skyla's treatment in El Callao when Weeti donated blood to Skyla for an emergency blood transfusion.

We were very grateful to Weeti who had herself not had an easy start to life. She was a two year old rescue dog that hds been living with the local vet in El Callao (Alicia) for nearly two years. Weeti was born a street dog. It's a tough life, a constant battle to find food and learn to be 'streetwise' as so many of the drivers in Latin America don't care if they hit dogs. It's heartbreaking to watch and Weeti was a victim of this.

As a young pup, Weeti was run over by a truck near the Plaza Bolivar of El Callao, pushed off the road and left to die. A passing driver, Luis Lazar (and friend of Alicia's) grabbed her off the road and took her to Alicia's veterinary shop to see what could be done to save her. Alicia could see that she had a broken hind. Her two legs were completely destroyed; bones were broken and fractured and muscles were cut. Without access to X-rays it was a difficult situation for Alicia, she couldn't determine the extent of the fractures and damage into Weeti's spine. Despite the extreme pain Weeti would have been feeling, Alicia could see hope for her. Luis agreed to pay for the surgery and adopt Weeti so with a little help from Reinaldo Rojas (Nano), Alicia successfully performed extensive surgery to both rear legs, inserting pins and plates in the bones.

If there is one thing we know about Alicia from personal experience is that she is very determined. Her devotion to helping Weeti paid off after three months of intensive care. Alicia did not expect the most severely affected leg to ever hold any weight but Weeti surprised everyone, standing on both legs and walking.

Her story does not end here. While she could walk and even jog a little she was disabled. Due to her disability, Luis was not able to adopt Weeti as she could not defend herself against the other dogs he owned, should a disagreement occur. He discussed options with Alicia who finally decided to keep Weeti herself until a suitable family came along. Alicia knew of a farm where Weeti was able to spend periods of time and enjoy herself. Unfortunately this was not the case, some workers were ill-treating her. When Alicia found out she had these people fired and kept Weeti close to her from then on. There are unfortunately some very cruel people in this world and Weeti has seen more than her fair share.

Why are we going into so much detail about Weeti's life? Well after our trek to Mt Roraima we went back to El Callao for a few nights. We got a few more things done to our motorbikes and visited our friends including a visit to Alicia's shop to see Alicia, Fanny, Daniel, Nano and all the dogs. While we were catching up with Weeti, Nano asked us if we would like to adopt Weeti. Being so soon after the loss of our Skyla it was a hard decision, but with her connection to Skyla, loveable nature and need for caring and dedicated parents we happily said yes.

We want to officially introduce Weeti as a new member of The Pack Track and we look forward to getting to know her and sharing her with you.