This time last year....

...at 13.30 we didn't know how much our lives were about to change. At 15:30 Neal was leaving to go to work at the hatchery and called out to me that he was going to take Rasher. I had planned to take Rasher and his harem to Surf Beach as I had a nest to excavate there, but going to the main hatchery at the RIU hotel was a rare treat for Rasher and was only possible since we had bought the Landrover. I was about to shout out and tell Neal to leave him with me but didn't. That decision will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Earlier in the day Sheena had phoned me in a terrible state as her dog Cross had been poisoned, she was asking if we knew what could be done for him. We both assumed that Cross had been poisoned near the Morabeza hotel where he mostly hung out. Why we didn't ask where it was Cross had eaten poison is a question we ask ourselves all the time.

The day before Foxy had died but he was a free spirit and it didn't occur to us that his death might be something that should make us fear for Rasher. Rasher was always with us, we thought we could protect him.

By 15.00 Rasher was dead and our family was destroyed. Rasher became the latest in a long line of animal victims, killed by the RIU hotel as an easy solution to 'problem' of dogs and cats hanging around the hotel. Strychnine had been placed on the beach, an action that was authorised by the RIU manager Giorgio Chiarel and executed by Julio Cabral, an employee of the Department of Health.

Placing poison on a public beach is indiscriminate, inhumane, illegal, dangerous to humans and quite simply not an effective solution.

Giorgio Chiarel was reassigned by the hotel and Julio Cabral continues both his regular work and his lucrative sideline with no penalties for either.

Not so for Neal and I who every day continue to mourn the loss of a beautiful spirit filled with disbelief that we will never see or touch Rasher again. Never hear him bark to be let in. Never see him staring at us asking to go for a walk or chasing birds or balancing beautifully on the back of our quad bike. All of us never happier than when he was at our side and we were at his.

Twelve months on and sadness continues to overwhelm us. Time does not heal. Ignorant people continue to abuse animals.

This time last year....

...at 13.30 we didn't know how much our lives were about to change. At 15:30 Neal was leaving to go to work at the hatchery and called out to me that he was going to take Rasher. I had planned to take Rasher and his harem to Surf Beach as I had a nest to excavate there, but going to the main hatchery at the RIU hotel was a rare treat for Rasher and was only possible since we had bought the Landrover. I was about to shout out and tell Neal to leave him with me but didn't. That decision will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Earlier in the day Sheena had phoned me in a terrible state as her dog Cross had been poisoned, she was asking if we knew what could be done for him. We both assumed that Cross had been poisoned near the Morabeza hotel where he mostly hung out. Why we didn't ask where it was Cross had eaten poison is a question we ask ourselves all the time.

The day before Foxy had died but he was a free spirit and it didn't occur to us that his death might be something that should make us fear for Rasher. Rasher was always with us, we thought we could protect him.

By 15.00 Rasher was dead and our family was destroyed. Rasher became the latest in a long line of animal victims, killed by the RIU hotel as an easy solution to 'problem' of dogs and cats hanging around the hotel. Strychnine had been placed on the beach, an action that was authorised by the RIU manager Giorgio Chiarel and executed by Julio Cabral, an employee of the Department of Health.

Placing poison on a public beach is indiscriminate, inhumane, illegal, dangerous to humans and quite simply not an effective solution.

Giorgio Chiarel was reassigned by the hotel and Julio Cabral continues both his regular work and his lucrative sideline with no penalties for either.

Not so for Neal and I who every day continue to mourn the loss of a beautiful spirit filled with disbelief that we will never see or touch Rasher again. Never hear him bark to be let in. Never see him staring at us asking to go for a walk or chasing birds or balancing beautifully on the back of our quad bike. All of us never happier than when he was at our side and we were at his.

Twelve months on and sadness continues to overwhelm us. Time does not heal. Ignorant people continue to abuse animals.