Chaparrito Pepito's Story

Our vacation in Mexico had been wonderful, little did we know we were about to fall in love.

Kristine had noticed a homeless dog and her puppies on the side of the road. On our last day, I felt compelled to see the puppies she couldn’t get out of her head. We found them in minutes, it was heartbreaking. One of the puppies had a deep, infected sore on his back with ants crawling in it. He looked helpless and I knew that if we did not help him, he would not survive long. I reached down and picked him up, put him in our rental car and drove away. That was that. He was ours and we were going to find a way to help him. I felt bad for his sleeping mother because I knew she would wake up and be worried, but hoped now she could care better for the last puppy.

With only 45 minutes before we had to leave and a puppy who was too sick to travel, we had to find someone willing to get involved. We went back to the hotel and found Orlando, Sara and Willie. After 30 minutes, we made a plan for the puppy to go to veterinarian Dr. Juan on Tuesday. We exchanged emails and we were off. This was a total heart/faith exchange and I felt such calm. I decided that even if this puppy passed away that night, at least for some period of his life, he was not being ignored and 5 people were doing everything they could to help him.

Getting Chaparrito Home
Dr. Juan was amazing and completely onboard in working with us to get the puppy healthy and home to us in Oregon. He named the puppy Chaparrito, meaning shorty in Spanish. Through the help of VIDA, a U.S. based veterinarian organization, we contacted Darci at CANDi. I knew we were in very good hands immediately. Darci connected us with Amigos de los Animales in Isla Mujeres, who would help get Chaparrito home. After 4 weeks, Chaparrito was well enough to travel. Volunteer, Alex West of Amigos de los Animales, picked up Chaparrito and started the process that brought him to Portland, Oregon.

We picked up Chaparrito in Portland. He looked at me like, who in the world are you? By that night he was curled up in our arms. As I write this he is a healthy little boy sleeping on his favorite bed. He is an adorable being with such an amazing life force. We are forever grateful for the help of each who played a vital role in making sure this Chaparrito Pepito found a loving home.

Kelly Darnell