Pets are not forgotten during Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations, when even Fido and Tiger get a place at the altars Mexican families set up to honor their deceased loved ones, complete with flowers, candles and photographs.
Although the human dead usually get their favorite food or drink placed on altars, the nature of pet food can make things a little different.
The holiday has roots in Mexican pre-Hispanic customs, as does the reverence for animals. The small, hairless dogs that Mexicans kept before the Spanish conquest were believed to help guide their owners to the afterlife, and were sometimes given special burials.
Photo: AP
The Day of the Dead starts annually on Oct. 31 to remember those humans who died in accidents. It continues on Nov. 1 to mark those who died in childhood, while Nov. 2 memorialize those who died as adults.
Observances include families cleaning and decorating graves, which are covered with orange marigolds. At cemeteries and home altars, relatives light candles, and put out offerings of the favorite foods and beverages of their deceased relatives.
The presence of pets has gained such momentum that now Oct. 27 is considered Day of the Dead for pets and the Mexican National Anthropology and History Institute includes tips on its social platforms for how to include them in altars.
Photo: AP
Mexico City graphic designer Meztli Lizaola makes sure every year that her beloved tawny-coated Chihuahua, Taco — who died two years ago — has a place at the altar on a table in the corner of her living room.
Taco’s ashes are in an urn beside his lively eyed photograph, next to a photo of Lizaola’s deceased father.
The orange-flowered cempasuchil — a type of marigold — is placed around the photos, as well as candles and figurines of skulls.
Taco — as his name suggests — enjoyed tacos (especially roast pork) and other traditional Mexican human foods such as quesadillas and concha pastries.
Because she has four other dogs, Lizaola cannot leave Taco’s favorite foods on the altar; some sneaky pup is likely to snatch it.
For years, elements of Halloween have been mixing into the seasonal festivities, and for pets it is no different. For those who still have living dogs and cats, it is not uncommon to find a wide variety of Halloween costumes at pet shops, including inmate-style “bad dog” costumes.
Ethnohistorian Juan Pablo Garcia Uriostegui of the National Museum of Anthropology said the inclusion of pets and Halloween influences are part of changes in the traditional holiday that have accelerated, particularly in the past three years.
“We are experiencing changes in the traditions. It is happening very fast,” he said.
The large family of numerous children is often a thing of the past, and couples having only pets — dubbed “perrihijos” or “dog kids” — are not uncommon.
“That’s where you see these practices concerning death starting to take hold,” Garcia Uriostegui said. “They are no longer just another companion ... they are living beings who hold memories, and whose memory must be commemorated.”
The admiration for dogs goes way back in Mexico, where hairless dogs known as xoloitzcuintles were common before the Spanish brought their larger, furrier hounds to Mexico during the 1519-1521 conquest.
The pre-Hispanic dogs were often sacrificed or buried near their owners — or represented as carefully crafted ceramic figurines — because the owner would need the dogs’ keen senses to find the path to the underworld after death.
Lizaola still feels Taco’s absence. His face is tattooed on her right arm. The dog changed her life and that of her partner.
“There’s like a before and after in my life,” she said, adding that Taco inspired them to get more involved in supporting abandoned animals and rescuing dogs from the street.
Initially, there was some resistance within her family to including Taco on the altar, a place long reserved for departed family members.
However, as relatives’ pets died they came around and “now it’s more dogs than humans,” she said.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS