Survival Story: Finding a New Place for our Dogs

Aaron Bartlett
Jul 21
6 min read

Hello my friends of dogs and Perros Libres!

It has been the absolutely longest time period without us writing a single word in a blog here on our website and email list. (Over a year!) There are a few good reasons for that:

My computer has been broken since last year and this is how I usually updated you guys with the latest.
I had went and got it fixed, which worked for some time, but old computers being what they are (2017 MacBook Pro), they do have a shelf life even then.
I now am typing on an iPad, connected to a hotspot, in our jungle-like location with no electricity. I’ve been living here with the dogs this entire year of 2025, and am rarely on a WiFi or at a computer-friendly space.
The fact that we are still plugged-in somehow with a Guatemalan hot-spot on our phone is incredible. Technology is incredible.

WOW! I am SO glad to see this is working and being online to talk to you again.

This has been the most challenging year we have ever had. It started off on an absolutely wild note: and I will fill you in on the details.

The meeting.

The locals had asked us to a village-meeting, where we would discuss the future of our operations here and if they will permit our presence and company in this delicate and indigenous location.

The meeting was almost 3 hours long, and admittedly felt more like a “trial” than a typical meeting. It was January of 2025, we had just come into the new year. This was to see if they thought I could be reasonable enough to live in harmony with all our dogs in the town of Tzununa.

After tiresome arguing, heated discussions, local testimonies on both sides (some locals representing us, others the “angry villagers” in our sector) we were able to hear everyone’s perspectives and they gave me the floor to express my perspective.

It was heated, it was heart-pounding, downright scary even. The implications of what they would do if we didn’t find a solution were devastating and threatening. This was their power, this was their leverage. If you don’t make us happy, we’re going to “ask” you to leave. This is a very hard position to be in, because most of their minds were made up before we even began. And they seemingly had a “plan” for their intended result.

It felt like the whole village was against our dogs. They said “this is not personal, we have nothing against you” Yet it didn’t feel that way. Because we are a team, a family.

My proof of this is in what they asked us:

“We want you to leave and take all the dogs with you.”

“No, I cannot do this. This is my life and the dogs are a part of it. They deserve a home too.”

…silence.

We just didn’t see eye to eye.

Fear crept into the room as everyone knew what was being implied.

Where would they go if we agreed to their request? We had no alternatives.

We had to come to some kind of compromise. “Uno de acuerdo”

After repeatedly expressing my love for the dogs, the hard work we put into their rehabilitation, the support we give to many local families, and those that saw a positive impact from our work all stepped into the discussion.

Maria, our dog-food chef, was at my left.

Andres, our local partner and owner of the dog land, to my right.

Andres, and many of our volunteers.

We thought we had some good points. However the locals still were not satisfied, it seems those who made the point to gather here were almost all “naysayers” for the project, and wanted to win by bullying us out with sheer numbers of majority. However as small as we were: we’re humans, we’re not only gringos but a healthy mix, and many of the local people know of our work and see us as legitimate helpers, not hindrances to the community.

How could we be seen as a hindrance in the first place? I will explain.

Noise. This is the main complaint, as the street corner our main sanctuary is on actually has a large amount of dogs owned by locals who wander the streets freely at night. They are untrained and extra noisy. Though we had more dogs than them, and ours were quieter and indoors, we were still seen as contributing to the noise most of all.
Dangerous Dogs? Though it has not happened often, we have had dogs who have bitten people in the past. We always pay for local’s medicine or a fee of some kind to compensate whenever this occurs if it’s requested. However it’s a legitimate thing: what if a child was bitten? They want to feel safe on the street corner.
Chickens. A well-known fact is dogs love to chase chickens. Even if they don’t kill them (though some do), Tzununa is like a giant free-range chicken farm. They are walking freely on the streets everyday, so we have to keep our dogs away from all of them.

This covers it. These were their complaints, and so we came up with a solution.
Artur with our big dog-pack, getting ready for walks!

The Conclusion

So how did we fare? What was the result?

Thankfully, we did come to a “De acuerdo”, an agreement.

…we were gonna have to move some dogs. 😅

The agreement:

We keep only up to 10 dogs at the original sanctuary. This will minimize noise and improve management of the animals to a reasonably easy level.
We don’t allow dangerous dogs to roam outside, and if so compensate anything that occurs.
Respect the culture of the people to maintain a positive environment and relationship with the community.

I didn’t think that it would ever happen in this way, however looking backwards I can see how it did.

What were our faults? We just allowed too many dogs into the only dog Sanctuary, and too close to neighbors. We have always “paid our dues” if anyone got hurt including chickens. I follow up with everyone and always have, which must be why they did not press those issues very far. We have always worked very hard on resolving conflicts if they ever occur. To be very reasonable is a high-class human skill indeed, and can resolve even the most challenging conflicts.

The main thing? Keep the noise down!

The positive result: Our dogs are the quietest dogs around now and all we can hear at night are local’s dogs. We cannot ask an entire village to change, however we can simply show the best example by leading the way. Dogs can be taught to be quiet at night and responsive to owners of all levels.

It seems now, we’re moving on.

Since then, everything has been cool and calm.

I’m now relaxing in the new sanctuary with the main pack of them.

Thank God for that.

Dogs hanging out in what is now the “volunteer house”.

I cannot stress enough the challenges we passed through.

The initiation, as it seemed.

It seems as if we passed, because 7 months later, we’re living in harmony.

Though I do not wish to speak to soon, it seems as if…

We did it. We found peace.

I step everyday with humility gained from this intense experience. It put pressure on our team in ways that shattered a piece of us all. However I go to shake everyone’s hands since then,

and the expression I’ve heard most, is “thank you.” 🙏

This is the end of the story for today. We have transformed our operations by splitting into 2 different Sanctuaries, although we have much more work to do to make it stand. What do we need now?

Install electricity on new location
Build another bathroom (dry toilet)
Get 1 more employee to complete staffing needs.

We’ve made it this far. We can do this. We WILL do this. And you all have given us the strength to get where we are today…and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I will leave a donation button at the bottom if you’d like to support our continued effort to build a new washing space, bathroom, and electrical infrastructure for the new property we have approx. 30 dogs on (and me!)

Thank you for your time, and staying with us through the fire and flames.