Quick summary of the drive: From Cusco to Lima the drive was long. We stopped through Nazca so sierra could contemplate the meaning of the lines... we are pretty sure she understands now. Nazca was truly impressive, we opted not to take a plane,  for expense and we have seen how the Peruvians take care of the cars and didn’t want to chance the same mentality towards maintenance in aeronautics. The lines form a near by mountain were impressive, it is truly the lines not the animal forms that are the strangest. They run along the desert floor, absolutely straight. No one gets it except the dog.  We then stopped at an incredible oasis outside Ica. Surrounded by 500ft dunes it was a special place. Pictures here...

Well that was cute, lets get to he meat and potatoes of the last 72 hours. We essentially drove directly to Huaraz to go to a climbing area that Julian Nadrias suggested to us. Hatun Machay (Climbing info Here) is a beautiful forrest of rick formations nestled at 4200m about 2-3 hours from Hauraz.  We had spent the better part of the last 3 weeks there finding new boulders and climbing them. We met a number of great locals that showed us around and climbed with us. Ceaser and Andre where a great help for finding new problems and generally having a good time. All the great climbing and socializing came to an end two nights ago.

A group of us went back to the stone forrest to watch the sunset. The dogs were coming along and Cholo wanted to come also. We had lived with Cholo the whole time we where there, although it is mostly tied up all day and night. Andres (the owner of the refuge) had bragged earlier that Cholo had killed a cow and malled another climbers dog perviously (really cool ehh?). We were cautious of the dog always but sierra is a female and Cholo a male which is usually never a problem, we always kept the separate and watched closely. While the sun was setting about 7 of us were joking and laughing when all hell broke loose. With out warning Cholo and Sierra started fighting, as soon as it started Cholo clamped down on Sierras thigh and started shaking. Blood was spewing from her lag as she yelped and tried in vein to bite Cholos face. Cholo was like a machine, a switch flipped. He is normally a dopy dog that seems a bit stupid and awkward. Now he was a killer oblivious to the world with only killing on his mind.

    Everyone was in shock for a few seconds and we started yelling. I kicked Cholo a number of times, running kicks with as much power as I could... nothing. Teri grabbed a freshly boiled thermos of water and dumped it on Cholo’s face...nothing. Ceaser (a true hero in this) grabbed Cholo by the collar, started hitting him in the head with a large rock and generally tried to get him off. Andres, Cholos owner, stood there and did nothing.

    After what seemed like 5 minutes (probably 45 seconds) a combination of Ceasers pulling/hitting and Sierras skin and muscle giving loose,  the two separated and Sierra ran. The puncture wounds were awful, blood was all over Cholos face and Sierras rear. She was crying and limping. She was scared and in pain. It was the most traumatic minute of her life, and she was still bleeding. We got her back to the truck and spent the next 4 hours stopping the bleeding and cleaning her wounds.

    We packed up and left the refuge at 2:30am to drive to Huaraz to find a Vet. Because there is really no road and mud is everywhere we became stuck for the next 6 hours. Axle and Kersten helped us dig as well as Hermando. We finally made it to Huaraz around 11am and found a vet. She got a bunch of stitches in the massive wound she received. She is now on antibiotics, hasn’t eaten in days, won’t move from here bed and in generally in pain. Poor old dog, never hurt a soul.

Andres agreed to pay for the vet bills, which were not much in Peru. He has hesitated to truly take responsibility for the incident stating that is was “just a dog fight”. The core difference between this fight and others was that:

1. a)Cholo is a pitbull. When other dogs fight they nip with no intention of harm, pitbulls fight to the death.
   

2. b)Sierra is a old female dog, Cholo is a young male. Most breeds have an instinct to not fight members of the other sex... obviously this has been breed out of pitbulls.
   

3. c)It is not appropriate to have a dog like that at a public climbing area. Despite the malling of other climbers dogs, the killing of livestock is stressing the relationship with the local community... Enough said.
   

This incident has solidified my previous views on pitbulls. They should not be pets. To many times have I heard storied of pitbulls being brought up by families never being trained to be aggressive, but then quickly attacking other dogs and sometimes people. They are an aggressive and unpredictable breed that should not be trusted under any circumstances. They have been selectively breed to not only have powerful jaws but a mental switch that when aggression is started they are blind to the world, except to kill. 

    We will not return to Hatun Machay because Andres stated that the pitbull will still be there. We suggest to any other climbers thinking of going to Hatun Machay to not go until the dog is gone. Wether you have a dog or not Cholo should not be trusted. The unpredictable nature of that dog makes it a danger to dogs and people alike.

We are heading to Huayllay which is a bigger area that is supposed to have a higher quality of rock. We suggest that other climbers wanting to search out new routes or just climb head to Huayllay instead of Hatun Machay. It is sad that the area is unsafe because of one dog, but that is how it is.

If this situation has changed please contact us.