Argentina A-Z: D for dogs, E for environment

Quite surprisingly, this is one of the most controversial subjects in Buenos Aires –  pets, in Spanish mascotas, are a relatively new trend in this city. Since the majority of housing consists of flats, you wouldn’t imagine that dogs especially would become such a popular pet. But my porteño friends explained that over the last ten years or so, people have started buying expensive breeds of dog and have them as a pet “to show off”.  Indeed, dogs are so well kept and spotlessly maintained that they become a peculiarity of the city. Dog walkers are everywhere and they carry around huge groups of canines. Images like the one below (excuse the mobile snap, I did not have my camera that day) are commonly seen in the streets of Buenos Aires. 

However, while it seems a great percentage of the porteños won’t give up their mascot, there are a great number of them who find this a ridiculous craze. One of the main reasons is the problem of street cleanliness: porteños, it seems, are happy to show off their furry friend’s pedigree, but won’t clean up their mess from the pavements. I could add the bad habit comes with that of littering in general: I’ve seen with my own eyes people throwing away empty cans onto the middle of the street as if it were OK. So this lack of environmental awareness makes the whole pet experience even less pleasant for those hoping for cleaner streets in Buenos Aires.

Another problem linked to the ever so growing number of pets in the streets is the smell. However, if I were to comment on the smell of the streets, I would not exactly blame the dogs: in certain barrios like Palermo for example, the pavements are always clean and the streets are relatively odour-free, if we don’t count the poisonous traffic emissions. So I can imagine the dog pooh is an unpleasant surprise for the poshies having brunch al fresco in one of the delicious restaurants in Palermo Hollywood. But in other areas, like San Telmo, where I lived, I had to adjust my nostrils to the daily smell of urine mixed with the smell of waste. Not only is there a devastatingly huge number of people living on the streets of older and poorer neighbourhoods, which means a lot of the waste is left exposed and spread on the ground, as the homeless look for food and leftovers – a heart-breaking scene I saw pretty much every single day. But it also looks like the council does not care much to keep the streets as spotless as the ones in other, richer areas. Coming from London it doesn’t surprise me: there is a different treatment for different areas, it would be like comparing Wood Green pavements with Notting Hill ones. However, sometimes I felt that San Telmo especially, hosting one of the biggest weekly events: the famous San Telmo Feria, would deserve a bit more TLC from its council.

The most significant cause of air pollution in Buenos Aires, together with the nearby power stations, are the unregulated vehicles. Porteños wonder how a council that does not make these simple regulations possible for the wellbeing of its citizens could expect them to educate themselves for a better environment and clean common space.