Gone to the Dogs

>> Forgive my lame blog post title. Those of you with weak constitutions should get kleenex ready. For those of you that know me, you know I am a lover of animals, specifically dogs. Cats are okay (Carm's cat being one notable example) but I'm a dog person. Foday's dog is Justice. Old Woman's dog is Tink. They got together and had two puppies. One is Freedom. One is Queen. You guess which is mine. Moving on. Old Woman came in the middle of the night and stole Freedom and gave it to another family. I was pissed. This was resolved by Foday talking to her and, in the end, conceding. In Sierra Leone, age takes precedence over.. everything. Even though she came to my house in the middle of the night and STOLE a dog, she's older so it was right. This started a debate because I had been feeding Freedom and Queen (and Tink for that matter) although Old Woman said that since Tink is her dog that the puppies are Tink's that it is up to her to decide what to do with them. This was two months ago. Fast forward. // I'm sitting on my porch with a cup of palm wine and Capital Radio, some papers and a good book (likely from my Aunt Gail) when I see Tink run up with a vine leash around her. She's obviously in a panic. She's never in a leash and she's whining like crazy. Children run up and start dragging Tink away. I stop them. "What are you doing with Tink?!" They freak out and explain that they are taking them to the Old Woman. To KILL her. I call Sanday, my "house-boy" or "best friend" or "boy I'm paying for his education so he helps with chores and tasks" to walk with me to see Old Woman to have a dialogue. It went something like this: OW: "Tink ate 40 eggs. I am going to kill her." BM: "No. I will not allow you to kill this dog over eggs. What other options are there?" OW: "She ate 40 eggs. I have already hired men to find Tink and kill her." BM (crossing arms and getting into *angry* posture ((those that know me know this posture and that things don't end well))) : "If you hire men to come and kill Tink, I will put myself BETWEEN Tink and the men. You are NOT killing this dog. What are our OTHER options." Old Woman took a moment to think about this, a large scowling white man looking like a thunderstorm, a stupid dog named Tink sitting at his feet, and a stalemate. Guess who conceded? Old Woman says, "Okay. Fine. If you build a gate so Tink cannot get to the hens, I will not kill her." Done and done. The price of this gate? About $5. For the most part, I love my time in Sierra Leone, but I REFUSE to compromise what I believe in, especially what I am passionate about, namely dogs. I love and miss you all... :)