Adopt-a-Dog Month: 4000 Abandoned Dogs in the Jordanian Desert
Image from Network for Animals October is Adopt‑A‑Dog Month , a time usually devoted to celebrating companionship, encouraging adoption, and reminding ourselves of the responsibility we take on when a dog enters our home. This year, I want to pause on a very different reality. In Wadi Rum, the vast desert in Jordan, 8more than 4,000 dogs have been dumped into the desert —left without food, water, or shelter in temperatures that can reach unbearable levels. Some of the dogs are pregnant; some have already given birth. Puppies are arriving into a landscape where survival is almost impossible. Network for Animals has issued an appeal to help provide emergency food and water. Their update describes a situation that is not simply neglect, but abandonment on a scale that defies comprehension. Adopt-A‑Dog Month asks us to think about what it means to care for a dog. Wadi Rum forces us to confront what happens when that care is withdrawn entirely. If you would like to learn more or suppo...