For most children, the weekend is a time to hang out with friends or watch television; but, for a little boy in Brazil, Saturdays are for doing something that will make a difference for dogs on the road. Thiago, who is now 11 years old and lives in the city of Antônio Prado in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, has always had a soft spot in his heart for animals. It was estimated that there were 30 million stray dogs and cats in Brazil, and he hoped he could do something to help them. And given that he was unable to bring them all back with him, he made the decision to improve their lives, one bath at a time.
At the end of the year 2020, Thiago collaborated with his father on the project “Sou de rua mas to limpinho” (which translates to “I’m destitute but I’m clean”) and began to make a difference in the lives of the street dogs in his immediate environment. According to an interview that Thiago gave to The Dodo, he said, “At the end of the previous year, I decided that I needed to some way, shape, or form do something for the animals.” “While I was having a conversation with my father, I told him almost my thought of bathing road pooches so that they remain clean and fragrant and individuals look at them in an unexpected way on the street.”
The expansion went off to a shaky start, but Thiago and his father were able to iron out the wrinkles in a short amount of time. “Catching mutts on the road is difficult because they are constantly terrified, and a large number of them are victims of abuse,” stated Thiago. Because of this, we spent many days without taking a shower until my father had a conversation with the non-governmental organization Noah’s Ark, after which we started bathing their freshly rescued pets.
After the puppies have had their baths, Thiago will conduct a picture session with each of them in order to increase their chances of being adopted. The photographs are altered by Thiago’s father, who then uploads them to various social media platforms to draw attention to each one. To this day, Thiago has performed 48 showers and has received a portion of what he has given back from his community in the form of presents of pet cleaner and shower supplies. “The extend has truly borne natural product, since most of the fuzzy ones are adopted,” observed Thiago in regard to the situation. “This provides a small portion of the motivation to carry on.”
As a result of Thiago’s efforts, he hopes that people’s perceptions of the homeless animals that they see on a daily basis will shift, and that more people will be persuaded to take in homeless animals into their homes. “[I need] people who aren’t overly eager to adopt,” stated Thiago. “[I need] individuals to be not anxious to adopt.” “It is the most important thing in the whole planet. But they should do it with the understanding that the dog is not a thing or a toy. He may be an entity that will live for a very long time and that has a moral obligation to make love possible for humans.
And for those who don’t have the room or the means to take care of a puppy, Thiago encourages people to help in other ways, such as donating money, volunteering their time at a shelter, or placing little bowls of food and water on their sidewalks. Even the slightest amount of effort or the smallest amount of cleaner may make a difference.