Hellhounds

Published in NZZ am Sonntag among others, 23.9.2018

Alicia Aurora Jáquez used to be celebrated as the queen of Chihuahua. The breeder of those small dogs comes from the Northern Mexican state of the same name. As such, she was one of the first destinations for well-informed tourists seeking an original chihuahua from Chihuahua. But for some years, a drug war has been raging in the region, which killed Jáquez’ son and is scaring visitors away. Ever since, Chihuahua has been reminding the world of conflict rather than cute dogs. Ten years after I had first met Jáquez, then still filled with optimism, I visited her again in Chihuahua. This time, she was wondering to quit it all and leave, or to represent her motherland as a vendor from the neighbouring United States. She didn’t yet know a solution – which was a parallel to her home region Chihuahua, now shaken by conflict for more than a decade.

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© ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

© ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Alicia Aurora Jáquez used to be celebrated as the queen of Chihuahua. The breeder of those small dogs comes from the Northern Mexican state of the same name. As such, she was one of the first destinations for well-informed tourists seeking an original chihuahua from Chihuahua. But for some years, a drug war has been raging in the region, which killed Jáquez’ son and is scaring visitors away. Ever since, Chihuahua has been reminding the world of conflict rather than cute dogs. Ten years after I had first met Jáquez, then still filled with optimism, I visited her again in Chihuahua. This time, she was wondering to quit it all and leave, or to represent her motherland as a vendor from the neighbouring United States. She didn’t yet know a solution – which was a parallel to her home region Chihuahua, now shaken by conflict for more than a decade.

Read it as published in: