Little Dog Is Welcomed As Monastery’s Cutest New Friar
“All of the brothers love him very much.”
In Catholic tradition, St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals — so perhaps it’s only fitting that one of the newest followers to join his order is quite literally a dog.
The Franciscan monastery of Cochabamba, Bolivia, recently announced that a furry pup, named Carmelo, had joined its sacred fold, where he quickly distinguished himself as its cutest member.
In honor of his new position, the dog even earned a more formal title: Friar Bigotón (that’s Spanish for “mustache”).
He also got a tiny Franciscan habit to wear around his new home.
Prior to being adopted, Friar Bigotón lived as a stray. But now, as the monastery’s resident pet, things couldn’t be better.
“His life is all about playing and running,” Jorge Fernandez, a fellow friar, told The Dodo. “Here, all of the brothers love him very much. He is a creature of God.”
Apparently, running and playing aren’t the dog’s only duties.
Most importantly, though, Friar Bigotón’s biggest role is in helping other pups like him.
Carmelo’s adoption was made possible by a local animal rescue group, Proyecto Narices Frías (Cold Nose Project), which hopes his story will serve as an inspiration for more monasteries to open their doors to needy pets.
Image credits: Kasper Mariusz Kaproń Ofm
“If only all the churches of our country adopt a dog and care for him like Friar Bigotón,” the group wrote in a post on Facebook, “we are sure that the parishioners would follow his example.”
(The Franciscan Order, founded by S. Francis of Assisi, to this day, takes a keen interest in environmental issues – attends the COP Climate Change Conferences – and animal welfare, in accordance with the teachings of their founder)
The link has been established many times, with serial killers especially, who started with animals in their youth, and later migrated to people. We, and others working on the “Cat Torture” issue have warned against the perpetrators in China and elsewhere (as this material is spread globally via Social Media) eventually performing that same migration. Obviously, that does not mean the animal abuse is negligible so long as it stays there. Far from it. On the contrary – as, it has been said many times before, that the more helpless a creature, and so a victim, is, the more deserving it is of compassion. There can be no more helpless party, in a human society, that largely denies them any rights and/or equal consideration in respect to freedom from pain and suffering, than an animal.
One such example, which I remember well – as I have seen the material (meaning: videos) at the time – concerning a now 42-year old native of Canada, is one “Luca Rocco Magnotta”.
He came to fame, if that’s the phrase for what he did, when he murdered and dismembered his boyfriend in 2012. He was eventually apprehended in Berlin, and is currently imprisoned, for life. What I remember him best for, though, is …
.. which, in 2019, was the subject of a “True Crime Miniseries”, called, “Don’t F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer“
It cannot be stressed often enough that the nice guy next door carrying the little old ladies’ shopping upstairs might be a raving pervert, spending his time torturing animals, and hatching plans to do same to people. Not all of them are as obvious as this one last year ..
Many people scrolling through various social media sites are completely unaware of sinister channels and private groups that promote and distribute graphic and heartbreaking content of cats and other animals being sadistically maimed, tortured, and killed for views and money. Tell social media platforms to shut these accounts down!
Between July 2020 and August 2021, the Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition documented 5,480 instances of animal cruelty content found on YouTube, Facebook, or TikTok, which didn’t even include private groups or conversations specifically set up to exchange cruelty content. However, just those few thousand videos were viewed a staggering 5,347,809,262 times.
In 2023, multiple horrifying videos of cats being tortured appeared online, causing global outrage. Investigative work by Feline Guardians found that the virality of this content led to subsequent cat torture rings producing and distributing hundreds of new torture videos that circulated across Telegram and other social media platforms.
Between May 2023 and June 2024, an estimated 500 cats became victims of unspeakable cruelty at the hands of members of this cat torture network, with 31 cats killed by a single person.
Further data collected shows an alarming 300% increase in cat torture cases between December 2024 and early 2025, particularly originating from China.
This organized group of criminals was found to be mass producing videos, largely in China, to take advantage of a lack of animal cruelty laws, sharing them on social media, creating websites on the dark net to distribute videos, and using Chinese social media sites to promote these websites and recruit members. To the frustration of Chinese activists and others working to shut this down, less than 1% of abusers have been investigated by authorities.
Dozens of groups on Telegram with thousands of participants are exchanging as much as 100+ of videos daily of horrifying content. More troubling still are the attempts to encourage children and young adults to watch and commit animal torture themselves.
Tragically, this has been found to be an international issue with cruelty content originating from many countries with multiple platforms involved, and it’s been linked to other criminal activity, such as child sex abuse material, terrorism, animal theft, and extortion.
Platforms that allow users to engage in the production and distribution of this content must take action to stop it.
… please refer to the page for contacts/suggestions …
Now, Germany is a Speed Maniacs’ paradise. This is commonly known. All the time terrible accidents happen, caused by people racing their fast cars on motorways without speed limits. Increasingly even in traffic-calmed areas inside cities, with speed limits of 50 km/h. The German automobile industry has no interest in any speed limits ever being established, and due to successful political lobby work things remain as they are. Being a driver myself in this country, I daily encounter reckless drivers, and their often aggressive behaviour.
Sadly a huge number of animals fall victim to their unthinking, uncaring, and often intentional conduct on the roads. And also, sadly, the German “ADAC” (“Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil Club” – General German Automobile Club) advises its numerous members accordingly … against due consideration for the (smallest and) most vulnerable animal road users.
Two recent accidents reported in the news, with drivers trying to avoid hitting a pigeon and a squirrel, were commented accordingly by police/the ADAC.
“… The police point out that, even in road traffic, human life always comes before animal life. Braking for small animals such as rabbits or squirrels should only be performed if it does not endanger vehicle occupants or other road users, the police explain. “
Smaller animals (e.g., pigeons, rabbits, cats): Do not brake or swerve abruptly! The protection of human life takes priority – risky maneuvers can lead to serious accidents
Larger animals (e.g. deer, wild boars, dogs): Controlled braking is permitted and required to avoid a collision as far as possible – provided that other road users are not endangered.
(Source: ADAC)
Now, accidents happen – we are all aware of that. And the least one should do is stop and see if help can be given. Or, should that fail, to remove the body from the road – the decent thing to do – lest it be run over time and again by other drivers (once read an interview with one, German, who enjoyed aiming for the heads of prone animals on the road, alive and dead).
Should I just keep driving or stop? As harsh as it may sound, stopping to check on a hedgehog or squirrel that’s been run over makes little sense. Small wild animals are usually killed instantly after a collision with a car or are so severely injured that they can no longer be helped. These include, for example, foxes, hares, wild rabbits, squirrels, hedgehogs, songbirds, and game birds like pheasants. Well-intentioned rescue operations on the road, especially in poor visibility or darkness, are unlikely to be successful, according to ADAC traffic expert Christoph Hecht.
Well at least they advise, here, to look after a cat or a dog. But small wildlife clearly is screwed …
In the event of an accident involving a dog or cat, you should stop in a safe place, turn on your hazard lights, put on a high-visibility vest, and secure the accident scene with a warning triangle. Then you can go to the injured animal. If the animal is dead, you should pull it off the road. If the injured pet is still alive and injured, it must receive medical attention.
As regrettable as every dead hedgehog is, risky evasive maneuvers endanger people and are disproportionate. Car insurance companies also consider emergency braking that leads to an accident (a rear-end collision) to be disproportionate. This can lead to the loss of benefits.
Hedgehogs that have been hit by a car are usually beyond rescue. Anyone who still wants to try should be especially careful, especially in the dark and in areas with poor visibility, as there is an increased risk of accidents with even more serious consequences.
No one wants an attempt to save an animal life on the road to end in serious harm to other parties, or their property. However, personally, I disagree with most of this. And as regards property – and here the all-important car (to most Germans anyway) – that can never have priority over an irreplaceable life.
In my personal experience not all small animals involved in road accidents are necessarily dead or beyond saving. Sadly the ADAC seems to think that to try is not worth it – so potentially leave them to suffer and die slowly of their injuries.
As concerns wildlife that is listed in the hunting law in Germany, which goes for most species, it is strictly forbidden to remove an injured animal from the site of the accident, even with the intent of having it receive medical attention or for transport to a wildlife station. It is considered poaching, and the rule is to wait for the local hunting tenant to dispatch the animal – even IF it would otherwise have survived. For vets it is illegal to give such an animal medical attention, even to euthanise it!!
I have personally witnessed such an incident a few years ago, with a young wild boar, having fled a drive hunt in November, and running across a busy road in its panic, being hit by a car. The poor animal lay in the middle of the road, trying to rise and could not, while the accident driver looked on. I pulled the creature from the road onto the verge. Police arrived, and it was decided to summon the local hunter to deal with it. What followed was the longest half hour of my life. Being left alone with the animal, I tried to stand it up on its legs, so it could flee. I knew what was to come. However, the back injury was too severe, and I’ll never forget the panicked gasping, the rolling eyes seeking a way out …
The hunter arrived.
He shook everyone’s hand, pulled a pistol from his jacket, aimed and shot. Once, twice – in the chest. The poor animal screamed in agony, and with two bullets in its chest, was yet alive. Shamed with his inability to do the job right, the hunter grabbed the hind legs of the boar and pulled it out of sight, in the dark, to the verge of the field. No doubt, there, out came the knife …
We all stood there, no one reacted. The two police officers should have put a stop to this, but did not. After this, I swore to myself: never again will I watch such an “execution”. I’ll do whatever needs doing, fuck the law.
On many other occassions I also came upon animals injured on the road, or dead. Only yesterday, within a hundred yards of each other … a cat, and what, presumably, was a deer, judging by the amount of blood. The latter already removed by the hunting tenant. The cat, laid at the roadside by a lady who got out of her car in front of me. The accident driver had clearly kept going …
On another occasion, in the August of 2021, I travelled through a local village, and came past a hit squirrel in the middle of the road (speed limit!), with cars passing, but no one stopping. I parked, got out, and found the little guy still alive, twitching, with eyes open, and still having the hazelnuts it had carried in its bloody mouth. I took it and carried it to my car, with many passing in theirs, gloating ..
The local vet I saw could only euthanise it, so severe were the head injuries.
It’s a brutal world out there – and getting worse every day. The statement, “human life always comes before animal life.” and all that results of it, is, I think, THE main cause of most of what we see here on WAV being done to fellow animals.
As many of you know of course, today was the day where the world said farewell to Pope Francis, of Rome. Francis, unlike so many before him, took this name upon ascension, in reference to the Patron Saint of Animals, St. Francis of Assisi.
St. Francis of Assisi, born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone around 1181 or 1182 in Assisi, Italy, is a prominent figure among Catholics. He was a renowned Italian mystic and poet who renounced his wealth to embrace radical poverty. Francis of Assisi founded the Franciscan Order, .. “He was particularly concerned for God’s creation and for the poor and outcast. He loved, and was deeply loved for his joy, his generous self-giving, his openheartedness. He was a mystic and a pilgrim who lived in simplicity and in wonderful harmony with God, with others, with nature and with himself. He shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace,” the former Catholic Church leader added.
While of course, as all men (and women naturally) are, by our very nature, fallible creatures – Pope Francis was not perfect in his pursuit of the high moral example set by the Saint St. Francis in the important – for us, area of ecology and animal welfare – he was nevertheless a man who followed his path with honesty, humility, and great dedication.
The full encyclical is available here. It’s less than 200 short pages, written in a simple, everyday style, and is the work of a thoughtful and caring person.
Francis’s encyclical, Laudato Si, is much more than a commentary on climate change; it’s a sweeping indictment of the entire global capitalist system that’s wrecking the planet.
Those who say that the Pope shouldn’t get involved in the issue of what’s happening to Planet Earth and all its inhabitants are either very stupid or very afraid. Or, in the case of the political establishment, both. ……………..
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Even PETA sees fit to make a Pope the Person of the Year, 2015 …
World Animals Voice 