UPDATE ON THIS STORY

COLONOS ORDERS ATTACK DOG BANNED FROM PUERTO, BUT LACKS LEGAL AUTHORITY TO ENFORCE THE BAN AS OWNER REFUSES TO COOPERATE

Posted 6/12/10 by Pelican Paulie

The German Shepherd dog that viciously attacked a 6-year-old boy leaving multiple deep bite marks on his small body was ordered banned by the Colonos board following a reportedly contentious meeting with the owner last week who refused to remove the animal from Puerto Aventuras for safety’s sake.

“We had a reunion with the owner of the dog and he refuses to remove it from Puerto but promises to raise the fence to prevent his dog from escaping,” Colonos GM Armando Rincon said following the meeting. “Legally, the board cannot remove the dog from Puerto and it is now up to the family affected to proceed legally if they choose to.” The victim of the unprovoked attack has been identified as Brendan Day of Calle Bahia Xaac, which borders the golf course where the attack took place. His parents, Tim Day and Monica Tynan Day, did not attend the meeting so as not to prejudice the outcome. But in the wake of owner’s refusal to cooperate with the findings, the Day family said it had no further comment “for legal reasons.”

Mr. Day had earlier said he had met previously with the dog owner and Colonos officials. The dog owner, whose name neither the Day family nor the Colonos has revealed and who lives on Yulka, asked that the dog be given another chance. “But I have taken the position that this dog is a hazard. I don’t care what he says about controlling the dog in the future, as I said to him, it just has to get free once for something like this… or maybe much worse to happen. I love animals and we have a family dog ourselves, but that dog has to go,” Mr. Day said.

He said the owner had trained his dog to attack and be aggressive to protect his home. “Well, it worked,” Day said…but obviously not the way it was intended.

Mrs. Day said Brendan was running alone across the golf course from their back garden to meet up with his sibling and children of the dog owner with whom they were friends, when the unleashed dog on the golf course attacked. It was around 6 p.m. The teen-aged son of the dog owner was able to pull the dog away from Brendan as Mrs. Day heard the screams of her son and ran to the rescue.

PUNCTURES so close to nek were a worry“There were deep punctures and scratches on Brendan’s back just inches from his neck. There was a deep puncture on his ankle, deep puncture wounds on his upper thigh near his groin from the dog’s upper and lower canine teeth when it put it’s mouth around his leg. There were six puncture wounds, scratches and bruises. There were teeth impressions of other teeth between the set of 4 canines on his thigh,” Mrs. Day said. She applied bacterial creams to the wound, called security and the family pediatrician. “Security did a good job,” she said.

“The pediatrician told us that sutures were not possible because the risk of infection was very high. Brendan couldn’t leave the house for three days because of the risk of infection. The law was that the dog had to be contained by the owners for 10 days to watch for rabies, otherwise Brendan would have to start rabies treatment,” she said.

“He drank two antibiotics a total of 5x/day for 5 days; had two antibiotic skin healing creams 4x/day; hydrogen peroxide squirted into the puncture wounds 2x/day; and soaked in a medicinal bath for 15 minutes 2x/day for 3 days. Total medical costs were PS $1,200 and reimbursed by the owner,” Mrs. Day said. She said Brendan is now doing well but appears for the moment to be more fearful of neighborhood dogs.

What’s YOUR view?

MORE UPDATES

OIL SPILL THREAT – Some Aventurans have been wondering if there is any chance the Gulf oil spill could reach PA shores. It doesn’t seem so since Quintana Roo is not one of the five states monitoring the spill and its direction as a precaution. Those states – Tamualipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, and our neighbor, Yucatan – have concerns, noted Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada, minister of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semanat).

STILL STANDING – Reports tell us the Saturday farmer’s market is still in operation despite dwindling customers who have repaired themselves for the summer to the northern, cooler climes.

HIGH HONORS – Andrew Falacci, who lived in the PA family condo last year with his mom and brother, Ben, and studied a full year at the Colegio here, had an auspicious start in high school back in the States after a year of learning in PA. Not only was he a member of a talented “mock trial” legal team, he earned high honors in the first year of high school. Father John and mother Jennifer still own a condo in Villa del Mar. The boys spent a lot of time in PA’s only commercial Internet access center, the Café Café. Andrew’s educational success is a feather in the cap of the Colegio too.

Posted 6/4/10 by Pelican Paulie

El Presidente Felipe CalderonEl Presidente Felipe Calderon of Mexico received a warm reception and a cold shoulder in Washington last month. Much of what he said before the U.S. Congress was met with applause, except his call to ban assault weapons that find their way from U.S. sources into Mexico. Also, his and U. S. President Obama’s protests of Arizona’s contentious immigration law that may facilitate racial profiling was met with mixed reviews from Congressmen.

Unfortunately, many Americans believe Mexico’s illegal immigration laws are more stringent than those in the U.S., including jail time. But Calderon said that used to be true but not since being undocumented has been decriminalized in Mexico. His answer was good enough for Wolf Blitzer on CNN.

It shows that even friendly neighbor nations with like goals and much in common can misunderstand each other, agree on some things and disagree on others. Calderon has grave reason to espouse an assault weapons ban given the 23,000 horrid drug-related murders and confiscation of 75,000 mostly U.S. made assault weapons since his ascension to the presidency on Dec. 1, 2006.

But less significant issues also vex.

In daily life, there are smaller, down-home problems irritating nationals and ex-pats alike living under the welcoming Mexican sun.

Among those issues is the difficulty condo associations have in making maintenance-fee deadbeats carry their load of common costs. Consider this latest comment from Puerto Aventuras resident Andy Pittman.

“I have become an association activist of sorts because we have a situation in Villamar Condos similar to what paid-up owners had in Esmeralda. One of our owners is $35,000 pesos in arrears and according to our administrator does not intend to make any type of payment at this time.

“Lack of money is the excuse even though both (husband and wife) are working accountants, own two vehicles, have children in private school and have a maid. Two other owners are $20,000 behind in their payments. When you have a small association like ours – 12 units – and only three of us are paid up and the previously mentioned three are way behind, the association is restricted as to what it can do.

“I have contacted all the absentee owners in our association and encouraged them to get involved and contact the developer and administrator to get everyone paid up. We will see what happens.”

His reference to condominios Torre Esmeralda concerns that association’s bold move reported in the Pelican last April in shutting off an owner’s water supply. They did it despite some contrary view from the administrator’s office that it is illegal in Mexico, a notion that allowed the owner to rack up a 19-month period of non-payment.

While the owner has not paid, he has not been able to use the vacation condo without considerable inconvenience to himself in securing water to flush toilets and shower, albeit potable water is available by the jug. The result thus far is that a for sale sign has been placed on the condo.

The deadbeat problem is ubiquitous. Every association has one, two or three owners who feel they are above paying for common maintenance that helps keep Mexico’s natural and man-made attributes in good repair, thus beneficial to the country’s economy and real estate investors.

While Presidente Calderon asks for a U.S. weapons ban to help fight the drug-war killers, condo associations plead with the Mexican government to provide them with a swift, bona fide, legal tool – such as shutting off water or other device as do the utility companies – with which to combat the unconscionable deadbeats.

Aztec Eagle goes to Cape Cod

In an aside, Calderon, in behalf of the Mexican people, posthumously presented the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, a near neighbor of this blogger on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with the Aztec Eagle, Mexico’s highest honor to foreigners, for Kennedy‘s lifelong support of immigrants and Mexican Americans.