Farewell, Scooby.

In the midst of all the good that has happened over the past few days, we had quite a sad moment on Wednesday.

Here in Monte Cristi, there are countless animals that seem to roam freely around the city. It's not always clear who owns these animals - if they belong to anyone at all! We have a fence around the orphanage which does a good job of keeping those animals (along with other things) off our property. And besides the kingdom of flys and mosquitos, there are no "pets" here at the orphanage, so to speak of...except for one...

Scooby served as the orphanage "guard dog" and was loved dearly by both the children and volunteers. He was a little racisit at times; being visibily partial to those of us with lighter skin, but he loved and protected all that lived within these walls.

On many occasions, Scooby (who was given strict orders in both English and Spanish to "stay") would often follow our bus to school, to the store, to the beach, and to church - where he was severly reprimanded upon arrival...and then allowed to stay. (Except at church.)

Needless to say, we were very sad to learn of Scooby's death Wednesday afternoon. Although we're not exactly sure what happened, there are a few theories: he was hit by a moving vehicle (on purpose), he was poisoned our neighbor for chasing and terrorizing his goats (which happened a lot), or he ate/drank something that killed him. (After being here three weeks, let me emphasize the possibility of this! There are LOTS of questionable things here...)

In any event, things just aren't the same without him. He was loved by all, and will be remembered by many. (Except the kids. Apparently, dogs are only expected to last about a year down here, and aren't really mourned the way they are back home. So, basically, there are some sad Americans and a lot of indifferent Dominicans. Oh well.)

So - Here's to you, Scooby. Thanks for three fun weeks. I'm sorry I yelled at you when you came to church. Even dogs want to connect with their Creator, I suppose. I hope you are enjoying being with yours....because all dogs go to heaven, right?

(Note: Scooby was actually alive in this picture. He slept a lot, so a picture of him moving around was hard to find. Good guard dog, huh?)