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I Traveled To Cape Verde And Captured The Everyday Life Of Stray Dogs There
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Hi everyone,
My name is Zoltan. I’m a passionate portrait and travel photographer. I do a lot of dog portraits, I love photographing dogs, but when I travel I photograph the landscape and the everyday life of the people. I don’t even take my portrait lenses with me, because you know, you have to save as much room as you can. I usually just take my camera and my 18-35 mm lens.
Recently, we traveled to Sal, Cape Verde with my fiancee Agnes. When we arrived, we were a bit shocked to see the huge number of stray dogs were in Cape Verde. I just knew that I had to photograph them and I thought I made a mistake not to bring my portrait lenses with me, but the funny thing is that in the end, I was happy that I could only use my wide angle lens. I had to get close to them and we had to have a connection and I loved that.
So the images are more like environmental portraits and show you more about how the dogs live. All the dogs were so friendly and so calm. Some of them were very playful, some of them were a little sad. Some of them even had collars on, so I assumed they had owners, but they were still hanging around with the others on the streets or on the beach.
I think locals see them as part of everyday life, they even feed them sometimes and they also get fed by the tourists.
There was one special dog, who stole our heart. We met him on the first day of our holiday and he basically stayed with us for the whole time. He waited for us every morning in front of our accommodation and we spent every day together. We loved him so much we decided to rescue him and we named him Beau. We took him to the vet in Santa Maria and they were so friendly and helpful, we got him microchipped and he got the rabies vaccine.
Well, it’s a long process, but he is with a foster carer and at least we know he is safe. We really miss him and counting down the days till we will bring him home to the UK.
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Fun In The Sand
You Have A New Customer
Beau In The Sunrise
I'm so glad that we have no stray dogs here in Austria. Because then I would have a whole house full of dogs and no more money to pay my bills. but when i think about it, I would rather have 100 dogs than a house without dogs but with money..
People Don't Bother Him
The Morning Sunshine On The Streets
Relaxing In The Shade
Pedra Lume
Santa Maria Pier
Googled this - a number of these dogs, particularly with collars are actually owned and loved, but are traditionally allowed to roam at will - they come home for food and in bad weather. The authorities in the past have been poisoning them with strychnine - including people's pets.
In The Shadow Of The Wheelbarrows
Street Life
Heartbreaking, i wouldn't be able to walk past and not take him/her with me.
Close Up
Agnes And Beau.
A Good Scratch On The Beach
On The Corner
A Young Guard
Aw, this poor little puppy looks really thin. Could use a deworming and a few good meals.
Praia De Igrejinha
Santa Maria Beach
Sharks Bay
The Breakfast
There are worse places for stray dogs. Most of these look pretty healthy and well-fed.
Yeah, they seemed to be smart enough to hang out at the beach where tourists will probably feed them. Some even had collars, so I don't think all these are strays.
Now I know that Cape Verde is a place, where I probably should not go. I probably end up taking one or more of those dogs home. On the one hand, those are lovely dogs and the place seems to be quite beautiful. On the other, I was wondering, if there is anyone taking care of the problem. The reason for that many stray dogs clearly is that they are not being spayed. As if it is often the situation in countries, where people are having other problems in their everyday life. It clearly got out of hands, like in many countries. It is just sad to see. In the way people of a country treat their animals, you can see what society they are living in. Still, thanks for sharing all those photos with us. In the end, they are still beautiful dogs and they do not know that there is a better life. They are just living the live they were offered.
Interesting and nice pictures of stray doggies in Sal. These photos reminded me when I went to the capital (Praia, in another island of Cabo Verde) in 2010 and took a single stray dog picture. 31290_1346...f26eba.jpg
There are worse places for stray dogs. Most of these look pretty healthy and well-fed.
Yeah, they seemed to be smart enough to hang out at the beach where tourists will probably feed them. Some even had collars, so I don't think all these are strays.
Now I know that Cape Verde is a place, where I probably should not go. I probably end up taking one or more of those dogs home. On the one hand, those are lovely dogs and the place seems to be quite beautiful. On the other, I was wondering, if there is anyone taking care of the problem. The reason for that many stray dogs clearly is that they are not being spayed. As if it is often the situation in countries, where people are having other problems in their everyday life. It clearly got out of hands, like in many countries. It is just sad to see. In the way people of a country treat their animals, you can see what society they are living in. Still, thanks for sharing all those photos with us. In the end, they are still beautiful dogs and they do not know that there is a better life. They are just living the live they were offered.
Interesting and nice pictures of stray doggies in Sal. These photos reminded me when I went to the capital (Praia, in another island of Cabo Verde) in 2010 and took a single stray dog picture. 31290_1346...f26eba.jpg