from the pen of icarus blake

On the streets of Santiago, Chile in 2011, protests broke out on college campuses to demand a restructuring of higher education in Chile.  These student protests faced severe police brutality, but an unexpected protector emerged from the back alleys: Negro Matapacos.  A stray black dog who put himself on the front lines of protest, barking, snapping, and biting at police who approached the protesting students.  Even though he passed away at the age of 12 in 2017, he went on to be used as an emblem against police brutality during the largest mass demonstrations Chile has ever seen in 2019 and 2020.  The image of Negro Matapacos with his red bandana can still be seen plastered on the walls of Santiago, a protector of those who speak up for their rights, and he’s not alone.

In 2008, a dog named Loukaniko participated in nearly every one of the anti-austerity riots in Greece — including one in which striking police union members were attacked by police in uniform.  Allegedly, Loukaniko was confused about who to side with on that one, but immediately chose the side harassed by in-uniform police.  Loukaniko can be seen in footage of the protests, on the front lines with protestors and running from tear gas alongside them.  He is still hailed as a hero, with large memorials for his service following his death in 2014 due to complications from tear gas inhalation.

If you look to history, you can find countless examples of dogs stepping up as protectors from Saint Guinefort (a 13th century greyhound who died after protecting his master’s firstborn from an adder near Lyon, France) to Chips (a WWII war hero who captured 4 enemy soldiers after breaking free of his handler).  If you look to mythology and folklore, you begin to see a bigger picture.

The xoloitzcuintle, named for Xolotl the Aztec dog-headed guide to the dead, is the national dog of Mexico.  Historically, these dogs would be buried alongside their owners as guides after death.  Aztec traditions also state that any person who was a friend to a dog in life, would be guided across the river by that same dog in death.  Hop across the pond, and you have the tradition of burying a dog first in a graveyard as a guard of the dead, following the superstition that the first person buried there would have their soul remain to guard the others.  Even today, travelers (and locals) in Europe report the appearance of black dogs who appear from nowhere and walk alongside them to their destinations, only to vanish when they’re safely delivered.

I suppose that a history stretching back many tens of thousands of years lends itself to a more unified knowledge of the nature of an animal’s spirit.  The spirit of the dog is fearsome, protective.  They defend us, they side with us, and they act as guides when we finally meet our end.  Sometimes they appear and disappear only in the interest of helping us get from one place to another safely.  I’m comforted by the thought that a dog is never far away.