Two sisters and their amazing dogs have taken it upon themselves to plant thousands of trees after Chile’s massive forest fires
Over a million acres burned in the largest fire of Chile’s history in January of 2017, leaving a charred wasteland in place of beautiful old growth forests.
In March of 2017, citizen-hero Francisca Torres and her three border collies set out to do something about it.
Torres and her sister Constanza bought hundreds of pounds of native seeds, strapped them on the dogs in specialized backpacks, and spent the next six months letting them run wild.
Posted by Pewos on Thursday, April 20, 2017
The hope is the seeds will sprout, take root and regenerate what was lost.
“We have seen many results in flora and fauna coming back to the burned forest,” Torres told Mother Nature Network.
Torres — who runs a dog-oriented environmental community called Pewos, where she trains assistance dogs — plans to take to take the dogs back out to the forest again this spring for more planting.
With their “boundless energy,” the border collies can cover as many as 18 miles in a day and distribute more than 20 pounds of seeds.
Feliz dia madre tierra ❤
Posted by Pewos on Sunday, May 14, 2017
“They reeeeeally love it!!” Torres writes in an email. “It’s a country trip, where they can run as fast as they can and have a great time.”
The dogs get “tons” of treats for their “work,” which for them is a day in the park.
The Torres sisters pay for all the seeds and supplies themselves, as well as the transportation costs of getting to the forest.
Asked why she chose border collies for the task, Torres says the answer is simple — “Border collies are super smart!”
Comments
5 responses to “Border Collies “Run Like the Wind” To Reforest Chile”
I love a great border collie story ! I have a beautiful border collie named Theodore and he would love that job. He is my second border collie. I was with Wolfie 15.5 years. He had a zest for life too. Happy planting. Catherine&Theodore
Fabulous atory. Inspirational and uplifting. Good news is hard to come by these days. Help someone is helping the forest heal.
Amazing! My bordie would have LOVED that job,too! And they really are the perfect choice of breed for that job… I can’t think of any better suited!
That is great, we have border collie and this is perfect because they love to work.
I have a Border Collie named Belle that I adopted from the Humane Society to be the companion of my German Shepherd, Athos, from Prague. Athos was depressed, alone and without a job while I was at work. It was love at first sight. Athos was Belle’s job and I was Athos’ job. Since Athos’ death a little over three years ago, she has been lost. She takes care of me, but a Border Collie can do so much more. I wish I had found something like this for Belle to do when Athos died. I think this is the perfect breed for such a job because of their intelligence and energy. Belle taught her own self to talk much like a human voice by watching and listening to me talk. I never taught or encouraged her.