Wishing a Happy New Year for All the Kais and Cotos

Jessica Burtch
Tue, 13 Jan 2015 13:37:22 -0800
Lifestyle

On the second day of the brand-new year, a dog named Kai was found tied to a railing at a Scotland train station, a small suitcase containing his few possessions parked next to him. His story was so heart-rending, the images so sad, it seems the whole world leaned in.
Updated: Tue Jan 13, 2015

On the second day of the brand-new year, a dog named Kai was found tied to a railing at a Scotland train station, a small suitcase containing his few possessions parked next to him. His story was so heart-rending, the images so sad, it seems the whole world leaned in.

With leaning comes learning, and we've learned a lot in the 10 days since.

We learned that Kai became Pluto back in 2013, when his original owner sold him through an online classified ad.

We learned that the friendly 2-year-old shar-pei ended up alone at Ayr station because of an(other) Internet dog transaction gone bad.

We learned that the woman who abandoned him at the station is 39-year-old Fin Rayner, whose explanation for what she did includes a lot of fretting and panicking and even a little concern — "What about me and my daughter, what we had to go through?"

We learned that more than 100 people, from Scotland to the States, would love to adopt the dapper dog with the disarming grin.

Oh, and we learned that massive wrinkles and a holey smile play much better on a dog than a person.

But did we also learn that people are more eager to adopt a dog in the news than a dog in a shelter? If so, then Fin, regardless of her intentions, did Kai a solid. Would this dog — oversized, in need of an eye operation, not a puppy anymore — have made it out of his local shelter? Or mine or yours?

There are dogs all over the world, literally millions of them, who need just one person to care about them. Exactly one week before Kai was left at that station and about 5,000 miles away, un pequeno perro negro was dumped roadside in the Boruca region of southwestern Costa Rica.

Emaciated, confused and alone, Coto, as he is now called, was a mess. One eye was so infected, it oozed and crusted to the point of sticky closure. His nails were long and mangled to the extent that walking was visibly painful. His coat was grimy, his skin infected, his ribs pronounced. Large calluses covered his chest, elbows and haunches. His head hung low as he limped along in search of something to eat, the length of twine tied around his neck his only possession.

There were no crowds. No rescue groups. No local news crew. No CNN affiliate. The closest vet was 40 miles away and "on holiday for the next 10 days," and the indigenous people of this mountain province have a hard enough time feeding themselves. So gentle Coto defied the odds when he found himself on the road again — this time on a two-hour taxi trip to bountiful.

Only a handful of marvelous people in the small coastal town of Uvita know about Coto. He lives there now, at the vet clinic, where his various conditions are being treated, where he, like Kai, will undergo eye surgery, and where the friendly 5-year-old dog will be cared for until he finds a good home. The last time I saw him — freshly bathed, nails trimmed, food in his belly and salve on his eye — he was smiling, his head held high, the twisted loop of twine clipped and tossed.

Coto will find his home, as Kai will find his. It doesn't hurt to have a media blitz feeding your plight to millions of followers, but in the end, it only takes one right person. Here's wishing a happy new year and one right person for all the Kais and Cotos out there.

Centro Veterinario Costa Bellena in beautiful Uvita, Costa Rica, is Coto's "home for the homeless" until he regains his strength and finds something more permanent. We are so grateful for their marvelous care!

Jessica Burtch was the longtime editor and writer for Matthew "Uncle Matty" Margolis. She is an even longer-time lover of dogs and critters in general. Follow her @sicaleigh. Email her at jessicaleighburtch@gmail.com. Read more at creators.com.

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