The Chilean city of San Pedro de Atacama is one of the obligatory starting points for tourists who want to visit South America’s famous Atacama Desert, the vast, colorful plateau of more than 100,000 square kilometers that stretches across four countries in the Andes.
A true oasis in the middle of arid lands, located about 1,700 kilometers north of Chile’s capital, Santiago, the town of less than 5,000 inhabitants is almost entirely dependent on tourism and has become a top recommendation for visitors who want to see the desert and stop at a nearby hotel or restaurant.
The town has a distinctive charm. Aside from the desert architecture of its small houses and the local food vendors on its dusty streets, it is also known for its large stray dog population — so much so that San Pedro is affectionately known as San Perro, the Spanish word for dog. Strolling through the town center, it is hard to find a storefront that doesn’t have a dog sleeping under the doorsill, sheltering from the sun.
But the canine population of San Pedro de Atacama has recently moved from being considered an adorable quirk of the desert town to a serious security concern. Although the stray dogs that live in the city are usually docile, authorities say that at least 4,500 mutts live in the surrounding areas of San Pedro, and most of them are undomesticated strays — posing a potential threat...
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