of life that . . . it was never as satisfying as the life I live now.
With equally magnanimous wisdom, Alvaro says, “This project
When I go to the supermarket now, I make every cent
has changed the way we see things in life . . . you get yourself
count. There is no money to waste . . . but, in a funny way,
into suffering and other things, but then you see animals,
I think I am happier at the end of the day than back then
particularly dogs; they find a solution for everything. For these
when I didn’t have so many issues to worry about.”
dogs, everything is a reason to be happy.”
The project has had other challenges as well, primarily
The ideal goal for these dogs is, of course, to find them a
from people who would have it fail or who want to
loving forever home.
see Territorio shut down for some reason or another. Thankfully, with the support of dedicated staff and
Most of the dogs are available for adoption, and potential
volunteers and the backing of some key government
adopters are thoroughly vetted in an effort to ensure that
organizations, the sanctuary perseveres. As Lya says,
these animals do not find themselves once again in the
“When we see the families, the pictures of the dogs that
deplorable conditions from which they came. Please visit
have been adopted, and how these dogs have changed—
territoriodezaguates.com to read their many happy adoption
dogs that we know where they came from, and today we
stories and to find out more about this worthy organization.
can see them playing around wrapped in a sheet on a bed, and we know that we found them maybe living in a sewer, or that we rescued them from the hands of someone who was going to hurt them—that is what makes it all worth it. After that . . . nothing else matters.”
52 | coastalcaninemag.com | Winter 2018
Every animal that comes to dwell on this land gets a name to signify that he or she is stray no more, and come what may, there will always be a safe home and a loving family in the mountains of Costa Rica amidst the Territorio de Zaguates pack.