Selfless Restaurant Owner Prepares a Dish For Every Stray Dog Who Comes By His Eatery

A small Peruvian restaurant called Ajilalo has been pleasing its 4-legged regulars with this lovely tradition since it opened 5 years ago.

The owner of the restaurant, Gerardo Ortiz, had a habit of feeding the homeless puppies even before opening his own restaurant. But when a stray dog approached his restaurant, Ajilalo, with hunger in her eyes, his heart tightened, and decided to make a dish just for her. From that day on, Ortiz has dedicated himself to feeding hungry canines without a home.

Over the years, many stray dogs have stopped by the restaurant in the hopes of a delicious meal, and Gerardo never refused any of them. In fact, he even installed food and water dispensers next to the doors of the restaurant for the animals.

Many of the dogs are regular “customers,” but there are always some first-timers as well. It fills Gerardo’s heart with joy when he sees a new dog asking for food with the most innocent eyes.

Besides food, Gerardo also gives the dogs names, in order to identify them more easily, and to know if he has given them the day’s ration.

Although the pandemic hit the restaurant very hard, Gerardo kept feeding the helpless dogs in these tough times as well. He knew that his help was needed much more than before, since the global crisis caused by the coronavirus has increased the number of animals without a home, due to many low-income households getting rid of their cats and dogs.

But Gerardo doesn’t just help stray dogs with food; he also tries to put some dogs up for adoption, and raises awareness of proper sterilization and animal abuse.

“Unfortunately, many cases of abandonment of puppies occur in the country, and what is most worrying is the overpopulation due to a lack of mass sterilizations, and the sale of animals. I believe that if the Peruvian government supported the shelters and launched a sterilization campaign throughout the country, we could stop so much abuse” Gerardo told UPSOCL.

The selfless work of Gerardo is definitely making a difference, as many people in the city are motivated to learn about the situation, and come to help with donations.

Gerardo also took the opportunity to make a call inviting other restaurants to help those most in need.

“If each business would put together the leftover food at the end of they day, all the puppies without a home would be fed, and we could even help shelters with that” he said.