History says that the South American continent fell to the swords and faith of the Spanish and Portuguese. History is quite clearly wrong. Eons have past with little or no recognition of the true rulers of South America and yes, my friends, I refer to the almighty dog. I write this from the city of Santiago, capital of Chile. I’ve only been here a small number of days, and yet I have witnessed the absolute dominance canines have over their human subjects. The strays wander the streets in small packs demanding tribute from humans in the form of food. They also cross at pedestrian crossings, enter cafés, and even chill out in front of banks. It is not unusual to see them simply sleeping in random places around the town, with little regard to human pedestrian traffic, or occasionally dabbling in the odd spot of sexual intercourse whether that be on a street corner, or in the afternoon shade of a park bench. There is also every breed imaginable – from Husky to German Shepard.
On my first real day in this city, I wandered up to La Virgen del Cerro San Cristóbal, a large marble white statue of the Virgin Mary which sits atop a large hill overlooking Santiago. I have to say, it is quite a hike (presuming you do it on foot, I simply took the tram to the top). However, what do I see when I get the foot of the virgin? A dog simply lying about, watching over his dominion (pictures to come).
I half expected to see dogs checking out the exhibits of the Museo Chileno De Arte Precolombino (The Museum of Pre-Columbian Art), a great museum dedicated to the art and culture of the civilisations that shook the South American continent. Alas, there were none. Perhaps the dogs have boycotted all the museums in Santiago due to their history being poorly represented. There was no mention of the roles of dogs in the Moche civilisation. Sure there were sculptures of anal copulation rituals, masturbating skeletons and bestiality, but with little regard to the canine overlords of South America. The situation was similar at the national history museum.
I will continue to observe the dogs of Santiago in what is sure to be an exciting anthropological investigation.
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