On June 13, Drs. Ricardo Montes de Oca and Sandra Hernández, veterinarians at the City of Guanajuato’s Centro de Control y Asistencia Animal (Animal Control and Assistance Center) and members of our sterilization team, presented an hour-long film entitled Los Relatos de la Jaula (Stories from the Cage) to a small audience here. Dr. Hernández conceptualized the film and was instrumental in creating it with artistic director Jorge Sotelo. Entered at the 2024 International Animal and Environmental Film Festival in Mexico City, it won recognition as the Best Documentary Feature Film and Best Activist Message.
Los Relatos de la Jaula documents the struggle of personnel at CECAA to grapple with the indifference and cruelty toward dogs shown by some of the people they must interact with. The dialog is in Spanish, but the film is subtitled in English. No faces of people, either members of the public or staff members at CECAA, are shown, but the faces of the dogs are, and they are riveting. It is difficult to look at some of their injuries.
This film deals with the same issues that an earlier documentary about Mexican street dogs, Campanions to None (Campañeros a Nadie), addressed in 2007, except that the focus here is on the situation in our own city. It is critical not just of the people who neglect and mistreat their pets, but also of the city’s administration for not adequately funding the CECAA. The vets there and their support staff struggle to provide humane care under extremely difficult circumstances.
Those present at the screening agreed that the film deserves wider attention, especially in Guanajuato. We are requesting help from experienced filmmakers in gaining a wider audience for the film.
Although Guanajuato has made significant progress over the past two decades in changing attitudes toward companion animals from indifference to respect, Los Relatos de la Jaula indicates that much more effort is needed—by state and city officials, schools, the media, and organizations like ours.