You know you are in Brazil when

You know you are in Brazil when the city’s animal control department is rounding up hogs and horses from the streets.

I recently saw this item on Niterói’s municipal website (yes, I read their website). It seems there is an effort afoot to “clean up” the streets of large animals grazing along the edges of neighborhoods. The animals have owners, but the owners let them wander about to feed on grasses, etc.

On several occasions I have been on an urban bus in Central Niterói and have seen huge hogs lumbering about in public squares, presumably eating. The animals typically belong to poorer families living up on the hill that let them loose at night to fend for food. It is a real sight, let me tell you; unexpected. Niterói is a dense urban area – not a rural town.

In the case of this report from the City, seven horses and two pigs were recently rounded up. They will be held on a nearby farm for 10 days awaiting their owner’s arrival to reclaim them (including paying a fee). Then I suppose the owner will have to confirm they have more appropriate plans for the animals in the future.

The campaign to round up “stray” animals is meant to help avoid traffic accidents.