The border town of Sasabe, Sonora had maintained a humble population of several thousand souls once, many sharing the joys of the small desert town life with their four-legged best friends.
That was before a cartel war came last October; Borderland Beat reported these warring groups to be several factions of the Sinaloa Cartel: the Cazadores, and the combined forces of the Los Deltas and Los Pelones backed by Los Chapitos, the sons of the infamous “El Chapo.”
These rival gangs warred in the streets with constant gunfire, prompting residents to abandon their bullet hole-riddled stores in the downtown and barricade themselves in their homes. By October’s end, the town’s only school had closed, and children were back to online-only, as they had been during the initial COVID-19 outbreak.
Folks desperate to save their families from the bloody onslaught of drug wars and human trafficking made the difficult choice to flee, leaving behind most of their belongings.
In that rush to leave, many had to leave behind their loyal companions to fend for themselves in the Altar Valley desert. One common reason for their abandonment had to do with U.S. law prohibiting entry of unvaccinated dogs.
https://x.com/Sonoranoticia1/status/1818025667847475705
Now, Sasabe is essentially ghost town of, at most, 50 souls and hundreds of stray dogs. It’s a slight uptick from last December’s headcount, around 20.
The American Thinker visited the town last month at peak summer heat to learn of what remains of Sasabe.
There, they connected with a charity called Paws Without Borders, who had learned of these abandoned dogs after news of them had made its way to them, 72 miles northeast in Tucson.
Paws Without Borders has been feeding the roughly 250 strays ever since, now generally recognized by locals as a little-known side effect of Mexico’s drug war. They’ve increasingly focused their efforts on spaying and neutering, given the difficulty of finding homes for the mass quantities of these dogs.
One volunteer, alias “Maria,” told The American Thinker that the cartels behave like terrorists, comparing them to the Taliban. Maria observed that cartel gunmen won’t hesitate to kill anyone, even if it’s just an innocent woman feeding starving strays.
“I know we’re just helping the dogs, but the cartels are very ruthless. They just don’t hesitate to pull the trigger,” she said. “They cover their faces. It reminds you of the Taliban.”
Between Paws Without Borders deliveries of food, the starved dogs will feed on dead cows. Some of those few remaining locals will, reportedly, poison these carcasses to kill the desperate creatures.
Some of the families who had fled the area attempted to return to Sasabe back in December, but the cartel violence drove them out again as the weather warmed up through May.
The Cazadores claimed to have established total control over Sasabe near the end of May.
https://x.com/All_Source_News/status/1796380495712002203
https://x.com/All_Source_News/status/1797052379315028203
