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WORLD NEWS Friday 16 OctOber 2020
Man shelters 300 dogs from Hurricane Delta in Mexico home

By LUIS ANDRES HENAO was unaware the post had
Associated Press gone viral.
LEONA VICARIO, Mexico Afterward, he was surprised
(AP) — As the dangerous by the generosity of people
Hurricane Delta closed from around the world who
in on Mexico's Yucatan donated thousands of dol-
Peninsula, Ricardo Pimen- lars. It was, he said, perhaps
tel opened his home — to the biggest fundraising mo-
about 300 dogs. ment since he founded
There were plenty of other Tierra de Animales. And
critters too: Dozens of cats local residents stepped for-
were harbored in his son's ward to help clean up the
room; his daughter's room damage at the shelter.
served as a refuge for Pimentel has always pre-
chicks, bunnies and even ferred the company of
a hedgehog; a patio be- animals. He dropped out
came a haven for a flock of college and spent years
of sheep. fixing motorcycles and
Not surprisingly, the house adopting stray dogs be-
smelled terrible, he says. fore fulfilling his childhood
But it was worth it: All sur- dream by starting the shel-
vived the storm. ter in 2011. Today, some 500
"It doesn't matter if the animals live on nearly 10
house is dirty, it can be In this Oct. 13, 2020, photo, Ricardo Pimentel is greeted by dogs that he rescued at his Tierra de acres (4 hectares) of land.
cleaned," he says. "The Animales (Land of Animals) shelter in Leona Vicario, Mexico. On a recent day, Clarita, a
things they broke can be Associated Press friendly, long-horned cow
fixed or bought again, but who loves to be petted by
what's beautiful is to see a decade ago about 20 from the impending storm, post was shared widely on visitors, roamed inside a
them happy, healthy and miles (30 kilometers) south- he moved them inside. It social media and grabbed corral where a sign read:
safe, without wounds and west of Cancun, where he took hours to lead the hun- headlines across the globe. "Leave footprints of kind-
with the possibility of being also lives with his family. dreds of canines indoors by Pimentel was so busy in the ness for others to follow."
adopted." "If I lived with just 10 or leash. midst of the storm — the Workers had been repair-
It all started with an Oct. 6 20 dogs, I wouldn't worry A subsequent online post hurricane downed trees, ing hurricane damage to
social media post. Pimen- much, but here we have included photos of what knocked out power and an enclosure where goats
tel told friends he had cut hundreds of animals and looked like a carpet in his prompted the evacuation Pepito and Elvis live with
branches and boarded up we can't afford the luxu- hallway. A closer look re- of thousands of residents Morfeo, a bull saved from
windows at the Tierra de ry of not having enough vealed that the carpet was and tourists along the Yu- the slaughterhouse. "They
Animales (Land of Animals) food," he said. alive — many, many dogs, catan Peninsula's resort- became his friends," Pimen-
shelter he founded nearly To keep the animals safe crowded together. The studded coast — that he tel said.q

Mexico experts find 2,000 ruin sites near Maya train route

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Experts from the remains of a pre- inaugurated the start of
in Mexico said Wednesday Hispanic Maya home, or construction on the "Maya
they have detected more carved stones, all the way Train," a pet project of his
than 2,000 pre-Hispanic ru- up to remains of temple that would run some 950
ins or clusters of artefacts platforms. miles (about 1,500 kilome-
along the proposed route It was not clear how many ters) in a rough loop around
of the president's contro- of each type of artefact Yucatan.
versial "Maya Train" project was detected, but Mexico's The train is intended to con-
on the Yucatan peninsula. National Institute of Anthro- nect Caribbean beach
The discovery of sites using pology and History said at resorts to the peninsula's
LiDAR elevation mapping least 91 were large-scale interior, with largely indig-
technology could slow structures like plazas, pyra- enous populations and ruin
down the already disputed mid or temple platforms. sites, in a bid to stimulate
project, which opponents Mayan houses were gener- economic development
contend also threatens in- ally relatively insubstantial, around its 15 stations. The
digenous communities and with stone bases topped by government says it will cost In this Aug. 3, 2018 file photo, tourists walk at the Mayan ruins of
water supplies. thatch and wooden struc- as much as $6.8 billion, but Chichen Itza in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.
The laser elevation data tures of which little remains. others say it will be much Associated Press
showed a total of 2,187 The institute said in a state- more. mission lines. equately consulted about
"archaeological monu- ment that the builders of Some stretches of the route Even where an old railway it or they will not share in its
ments" along 277 miles (366 the train would have to already have tracks, and line exists, the project would benefits.
kilometers) of the proposed take "specific measures" the institute said some ar- imply updating tracks and LiDAR, which stands for
route, about one-quarter to avoid damaging the tefacts had already been building new stations. Light Detection and Rang-
of the total planned track. artefacts, but did not say disturbed by railway con- Some Mayan communities ing, involves shooting a
Experts already knew about whether that meant parts struction decades ago. But have filled court challeng- pulsed laser at the ground
the existence of some of would have to be re-rout- other stretches are to push es against the project, ar- to get a high-resolution,
the sites, but some are new. ed. through sensitive jungle ter- guing that it will cause en- detailed image of the sur-
The term "monuments" can In July, President Andrés rain, though they will paral- vironmental damage. They face, even through dense
mean many things, ranging Manuel López Obrador lel existing roads or trans- also say they were not ad- vegetation. q