Paco arrived at Rómulo Gallegos Park about a year ago. He didn't come alone… he was brought by Papito and Brawny, two inseparable community dogs, who sometimes get lost and leave their rescue organizations working tirelessly to find them and bring them back home to the park.
Over time, Paco stopped being "a street dog" and became one of the pack, another guardian of the park, an honorary member of the community and very much loved, indeed.
The security guards knew him; he accompanied them on their rounds, and in his own way, he ended up becoming a companion to those who watched over the area. He played with them, waited for them, obeyed their instructions, and made them laugh with his antics. In the end, Paco won everyone's hearts.
The animal rescuers made sure he never went hungry. And the truth is, Paco never seemed to lack an appetite… He was a real glutton, those who knew him say, capable of eating anything put in front of him, a king with a voracious appetite.
She also spent time with the dogs that came to the park with their families; she could be very sociable, although she didn't like some dogs and their owners as much. Paco had a life and was loved, but everything changes in a second.
A death that no one expected
A few days ago, he was hit by a car. I did everything I could, I tried to save him, but that life ended suddenly.
According to witnesses, Paco was run over when a vehicle entered Transversal 60. Security cameras recorded the moment; although the distance does not allow a clear view of exactly what happened, the vehicle can be recognized and the driver was identified.
He still had vital signs when I picked him up from the ground, and without wasting any time, we took him to the vet. They tried to save him, but it was no use. Paco was in terrible shape, and my heart was broken.
According to witnesses, the driver returned after the accident, told the security guard he hadn't seen the animal, and continued on his way, not bothering to find out if it was still alive or even taking responsibility for what had happened. Don't animals have the right to live? What if it had been a child instead of Paco? Would he have just kept going?
Paco wasn't a plastic bottle, Paco wasn't a bag, he wasn't a bag on the street. He wasn't something that could just be left lying in the street after a hit.
It was a living being, capable of feeling hunger, sleepiness, fear, joy, and pain, and it had emotional bonds. It had people who fed it, guards who shared their days with it, and an entire community that had learned to recognize it as part of the landscape.
He had a name: Paco, and a story that ended very badly and very soon.
Community animals aren't without owners because nobody cares about them. Often, their protection depends simply on the solidarity of an entire community. On Transversal 60, Paco had become one of its guardians; every meal he received, he earned.
That's why it hurts so much that he's gone.
An animal may be smaller than us, unable to understand the danger of a car, unable to defend itself against a machine that weighs hundreds of kilos, but on the other side of the steering wheel there must be a minimum of responsibility, and given what happened, justice is demanded, because today it was Paco, tomorrow it could be another dog or, as I said before, a child.
It's not about putting one life above another, it's about understanding that a life is a life and that the decisions we make behind the wheel can be irreversible.
A chain of light by Paco
After his death, the neighbors decided not to let Paco simply fade into oblivion.
Among those of us who loved him, a "chain of light" was proposed via WhatsApp, a simple gesture to share a photo of him and say goodbye together. The 178 families of Transversal 60 who, according to his supporters, lived alongside Paco in some way, bid him a sad farewell.
Animals feel pain, fear, and affection, just like us. Teaching children to respect them and teaching adults that an animal is not an object will make us better humans. Behind every community dog is a story that perhaps few know.
Justice for Paco.
