Two Red Cross rescue dogs have been killed in Querétaro after a neighbor fed them poisoned sausages.
Four-year-old border collie Athos served in Mexico City after the earthquake on September 19, 2017 and had helped find many missing people in forests and reservoirs. He was certified by the International Search and Rescue Dog Organization (IRO). His companion, Tango, had also worked as a rescue dog.
The news was announced Tuesday by staff at the Red Cross on a Facebook page dedicated to Athos. “There is no exact way to describe our pain, we have lost an unconditional partner, a specialist who dedicated his life to serving without ever asking for anything in return,” read the post, where the loss of Tango was also announced.
It added that whenever Athos had been instructed “search” he had “jumped into the unknown without thinking,” and that the person who took his life had done so “without knowing everything that our fellow specialist has done for other human beings and what he could do in the future: even for the same person who killed him today.”
The Red Cross also lamented the dog’s murder on its official social media account. “Today with great nostalgia, we say goodbye. He was a battle partner who dedicated himself to saving lives, without expecting anything in exchange,” read the post.
Thousands of users reshared the hashtag #JusticiaparaAthos and #JusticiaparaTango to demand justice for whoever was responsible.
Meanwhile, another dog in Querétaro struck lucky when a voter adopted him on election day.
Twitter user Whiskyntanar explained how Blue won him over as he waited to vote. “Today I went out to vote and returned with a new friend. He was lost; he was almost getting run over when he approached me. He wouldn’t detach himself and accompanied me through the entire line until I voted,” he wrote.
The family has said they are considering keeping Blue, but haven’t ruled out adoption.
With reports from Milenio, Infobae and AM de Querétaro
