Just outside Alto Hospicio in Chile’s Tarapacá Region, more than 100 dogs are living among mountains of garbage in the Atacama Desert. Some were born there and have never known another home, while others were abandoned by families and left to fend for themselves among broken glass, rubble, discarded mattresses, and burning rubbish. Clean water is scarce, food is unreliable, and the nearby road creates another danger for animals already struggling to survive.
For the volunteers of Luz Canina – Animal Rescue, helping these dogs has become an ongoing race against time. They make regular trips to the dumping ground with water, food, and medical supplies, but they are facing a problem that cannot be solved by feeding the animals alone. New dogs continue to arrive, females continue to give birth, and there is nowhere near enough shelter or foster space to take them all in. Bored Panda spoke with Luz Canina founder Florencia Butti about the dogs, the challenges of rescuing them, and what it would take to finally break the cycle.
It started with one puppy, but every visit revealed a much bigger problem
Florencia’s involvement began after she adopted a puppy found on the road suffering from parvovirus. That experience eventually brought her to the dumping ground, where she discovered just how many animals were living there.
“It was impossible to simply rescue one dog and never go back,” she shared in an interview with Bored Panda. The team initially began by bringing food and water, but every return revealed more dogs, including new litters, pregnant females, sick animals, and those in need of urgent care.
That small effort eventually became Luz Canina – Animal Rescue, despite the organization having no shelter of its own and limited resources.
Trying to survive in one of the driest places on Earth, the dogs have to search for food and water among dangerous rubbish
For animals living in the Atacama, water is one of the most urgent needs. Volunteers make weekly hydration trips because the dogs have no reliable source of clean drinking water. Food is scarce too, and some animals resort to eating discarded or decomposing food found among the garbage.
The environment itself is full of hazards. Florencia has encountered dogs with swollen feet and injuries caused by broken glass and nails, while fires set among piles of rubbish, clothing, and tires fill the area with smoke. Even volunteers sometimes need masks because of the dust and polluted air.
New canine arrivals can be easy to recognize by how frightened they are
Not every dog at the dumping ground was born there. Florencia recalled that animals recently abandoned in the area often look noticeably different from those accustomed to desert life. Their tails may be tucked between their legs and their ears pulled back as they try to understand their new surroundings.
Some arrive as puppies, others as adults, and some females are already pregnant.
That constant abandonment has made reproduction one of the organization's biggest challenges.
Dozens of puppies have appeared among the garbage in just a few months
Without continuous sterilization, the population can grow far faster than volunteers can rescue the dogs. In July 2026, the team was already dealing with around 25 puppies from three litters. By early September, Florencia reported 42 puppies from six different litters.
The organization had already helped more than 50 dogs find adoptive homes, but new litters continued to appear almost every month.
“We have found several litters almost simultaneously, with dozens of newborn puppies living among the garbage,” Florencia explained. “Feeding them is necessary to help them survive today, but spaying and neutering are essential if we truly want to change this reality in the long term.”
Some rescues have required volunteers to crawl deep into the dumping ground to reach the animals
In one case, a mother gave birth beneath a concrete slab. The volunteers could hear the puppies crying but could barely reach them, so one rescuer had to push half of her body into the narrow cavity and pull the puppies out one by one.
There were eight puppies. The team made a temporary shelter from a box and blankets, but only six survived.
On another occasion, volunteers were preparing to leave when they heard crying coming from the garbage. They discovered another mother surrounded by nine puppies, fortunately allowing the team to approach.
The hardest part of a rescue can be finding somewhere clean and safe for dogs to recover
Luz Canina cannot simply remove every dog from the desert because there is nowhere to take them. The organization has no shelter, while existing facilities and foster networks are already overwhelmed.
This also complicates sterilization. Although municipal programs have offered assistance, the dogs still need to be captured and transported, and then kept somewhere clean and safe while they recover.
“We don’t have a shelter of our own, and the shelters in the area are also overwhelmed,” Florencia said. Sometimes the volunteers have access to a sterilization opportunity but no safe place for the dog afterward.
Foster homes are among the organization's most urgent needs
Someone doesn't necessarily have to commit to adopting a dog permanently; even taking one in for a few days or weeks can give the animal enough time to receive veterinary care, recover, and find a permanent family.
Financial support is also needed for food, medication, and veterinary emergencies. But Florencia emphasized that there is another simple way people can help: sharing the story.
Spreading awareness can help Luz Canina find adopters, foster families, volunteers, sponsors, and supporters.
Of all the animals Florencia has encountered, one called Dumbo remains particularly important to her
“Dumbo represents the beginning of everything,” she recalled. If the team had not gone to the dumping ground that day, she believes they might never have discovered what was happening there. Because of him, many other dogs have since received food, water, veterinary treatment, sterilization, and new homes.
Despite the conditions they live in, Florencia says the dogs themselves are remarkably affectionate. She describes them as having “the soul of a child.”
The ultimate goal is to stop needing to return to the dumping ground
Luz Canina's project, Guardianes del Desierto, isn't intended to become a permanent feeding operation. Florencia's dream is to reach a point where volunteers no longer need to make emergency trips to keep abandoned animals alive.
“Our dream isn’t simply to keep feeding dogs at a dumping ground forever,” she explained. The organization wants to sterilize and rescue the animals, find them homes, educate the community, and ultimately break the cycle of abandonment and uncontrolled reproduction.
Until then, the volunteers keep returning to the desert with food, water, and whatever help they can provide.