It's a pet's life!

When you drive around the city, especially early in the morning, you will see street dogs, sometimes in groups, sometimes solitary.  They live on the periphery of humans, hoping to survive on the scraps.  And somehow they do! When we first moved into our neighborhood we noticed an older dog jumping on three legs.  We thought for sure he wouldn't survive long…  It is now two years later and he is still around.  Sleeping under cars, crossing a busy street near vendors selling grilled chicken.  He never pays much attention to humans or other dogs.  He just exists, a weird outsider…  There are kind people around town too, like the owner of Mikhael’s hotel.  Many street dogs hang out around that part of town because they get fed with
the hotel scraps.

In general, the Congolese fear all dogs, especially the big ones. When I walk Nala, our golden retriever, people cross the street or shriek and jump in a mixture of fear and surprise. It is not uncommon to see people chase the dogs away, kick them, and throw rocks.  Children can be particularly mean - calling dogs to come, teasing them and then proceeding to abuse them.  Needless to say, I want to adopt them all!  Dogs, not children. There is one neighborhood, however, where the children were a bit braver and seemed to want to interact with Nala. It took a few months of seeing me every day but now all the kids in this neighborhood approach us, want to walk Nala, touch her and they want photos with her. I print the photos and bring them for the kids later. I swear the entire neighborhood, even some adults, now have a photo with Nala the Diplomat!

If you are thinking about getting a dog, there will be ample opportunities to do so here. You may even end up doing it without previously planning to!

In January 2020 we spotted a small, very friendly dog in the embassy parking lot. She hung out with the soldier guards and greeted every embassy employee very warmly.  Some employees started feeding her and giving her the attention she was so eagerly seeking. When the embassy closed its doors and switched to telework due to the pandemic a few months later, we decided to bring this little bundle of joy home for a trial period, to see how she will do with Nala and our two kitties.  We named our new family addition Mpenzi (Swahili for darling/love) and gradually introduced her to the rest of the family.  Needless to say, she stayed because she adapted quite well and quickly stole our hearts.

Veterinary services

When we brought Mpenzi home, we called the vet who we trusted to come see her.  He evaluated her health and gave her all the needed vaccinations. A few months later he came back to fix her.   People often ask me about veterinary care here. Brazzaville has a fair amount of French speaking vets who come to the house and a few “clinics” where you can take your pet in case you prefer an office visit. So yes, veterinary care is available, you can get vaccinations for your pets and basic care is done well for the most part.  However, do not expect the same level of sensitivity or attention to the cosmetic part of it as you would in your home country.  Two examples come to mind.

When Mpenzi was fixed, the vet brought her home two hours after the surgery, with no cone of shame, just with bandages wrapped around her middle part. I had to specifically request the cone - I knew she would quickly chew off the bandages and start leaking the wound - and he dropped one off later that day.  The price for the surgery included three follow up visits to observe, give her antibiotic shots and pain killers.  There was never any infection or visible discomfort. When the bandages were taken off ten days later, they came off with some of her fur and they left red wounds on the inside of her little thighs. It was only then that I realized they were the sticky kind!  The vet probably didn’t have anything better.  The incision was protected and that was all that mattered to him. Me, I wanted to cry! 

Another example involves our twelve year old cat, Saffi, who developed a large tumor inside her mouth.  Removal was recommended.  There are no facilities here to do a biopsy or to keep a cat at a clinic after.  She came back home quite loopy, a few hours after her surgery.  Since there was no way to test the tumor, there was no way of knowing if it was malignant or benign.  The vet said that the surgery went very well and he even, in a misguided yet sincere gesture, sent me a video of it!!!  His expertise was: if the tumor grows back that means it was malignant and there is nothing we can do.  If it doesn’t, the cat will be fine.  It has now been two and a half months and no sign of tumor, so I assume it was benign but I can’t know for sure.  

So how is veterinary care here?  Home visits are common and convenient and vaccinations are available.  Anything more serious can go either way.  The vets are skilled and I most definitely trust ours to do his best under circumstances.  However, one must keep in mind that extensive testing that is sometimes necessary to form diagnosis and/or high quality care involving specialized equipment are simply not available.  Flea and tick meds as well as heartworm meds are also not available here, so it is recommended you purchase those before you get here or set up an online ordering system.  If you do order online, the prescription would have to come from a vet in your home country. 

In terms of cost, at about $50 each, the house visits are pricey for Africa, but the surgeries are very reasonable. I think we paid about $120 for each of the ones I described and that included the follow up visits. 

Dog Training

I am convinced that you can find anything in Brazzaville if you spend enough time searching.  This is very much a word-of-mouth business environment and unless you know someone who knows someone, finding what you need might pose some challenges and take time but eventually, you will succeed. 

It wasn’t until recently that we found out about Fred Samba who likes to call himself “César du Congo”, referring to the famous dog whisperer. 

Dogs are clearly Samba’s passion. He will observe your dog’s behavior, find out from you what you want to work on and develop a program designed to your dog’s needs. He is also building a canine center in PotoPoto with a wooded agility course built locally. Samba is friendly and knowledgeable.  He also runs basic obedience training classes for groups of dogs.

So, if you are a street dog in the Congo, it's a dog's life, but if you are lucky to find a loving home, like Mpenzi did, life can be pretty sweet!