Beware of the Dog...

It was 9.30pm on a cool Wednesday night. The usual mist had descended on the shanty-town of La Tablada, the drops of rain suspended in mid-air as is customary in these parts. The discipleship course at church had just finished and Mark was beginning his normal hour and a half bus trip home. Stepping onto the dimly-lit dirt tracks outside church, he had no idea of the terror about to unfold... enter the dogs. Some guy had draped a blue tarpolin over his car beside the church building... harmless, he thought..., but oh no. Suddenly, from beneath the tarpolin, as if waiting for the unassuming gringo to pass, 3 large dogs emerged baring fangs the size of ware-wolves and growling in a manner one can only describe as visceral. This is not uncommon in La Tablada. Dogs roam freely almost everywhere. Most people have at least one dog as a 'pet', but few are tame. Being the brave macho that Mark is, he thought nothing of it and continued to walk on, when all of a sudden one particularly mangy mut began to bound. Whether confused, or paralysed with fear, Mark simply turned away from the hound, only to receive its mouth wrapped around his calf! Content with having bitten something, the mut released his jaw and continued to bark, just so as Mark would realise what had happened. Limping back into church like a stunned zebra on the Serengeti, he noticed that along with ripping through his jeans, the hound had also drawn blood. Not good, since many a mangy mut has rabies here. Despite the kind and well-intentioned efforts of the locals to clean his wound with soap and water, the traditional cure for dog bites, Mark thought it better to head for the clinic, just in case. Not at all encouraged by a very large man who, upon inspection, told him that he may go crazy with rabies if it isn't treated soon. That did it. So, together with Peru Team Leader Richard Stainton, who is coincidentally a doctor, Mark ended up in A&E (for a change) until midnight. 2 rabies jabs and a strong course of anti-biotics later, all is well again. Mark has since seen the dog twice and has had to be dissuaded from pelting it between the eyes with nearby stones. Apparently this dog has bitten many a bystander, but the practice of 'puting a dog down' doesn't really apply here, so old Rex can happily go about his business without worrying about the consequences. But Mark is biding his time. We may not have long left here in Lima, but long enough for the Hunter to become the Hunted...