Playa Lucia

About

Playa Lucia is a beach within the municipality of Yabucoa in southeastern Puerto Rico. Stephen McGarva learned of the grim nickname Dead Dog Beach as a part of his shocking discovery. All evidence points to it starting among non-local English speakers and the organization. Furthermore, the nickname is not used outside the rescue community and doesn't follow the colloquial language rhythm. Many Puerto Ricans consider the nickname offensive and part of a long history of colonizers degrading and depicting the global south as savages without taking into account the impact of colonialism on the socio-economic situation of their current and former subjects. The founder of the Sato Project is British and resides in the USA. The organization claims that the nickname derives from Playa Lucia being a dumping ground for stray animals, mainly dogs, that the inhabitants of Yabucoa could no longer afford. This further proves that locals did not give the name since strays can be found throughout the island, not just Yabucoa. Beaches are a common dumping ground since locals erroneously believe that visitors would feed or adopt them. The beach was known for having one of the highest concentrations of stray animals in Puerto Rico (source needed- This is unlikely since Yabucoa is a tiny municipality). Note: Many people erroneously believe dogs can survive on the beach with leftovers from weeken

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.