Discovering Europe
Protecting a natural and living heritage: The water dog
Ria Formosa nature park
Carla Peralta and a Portuguese water dog, biological heritage.
© Hegel Goutier
Carla Peralta speaks about her driving passion. On the floor, her three year-old son is rolling around on the floor, with three puppies standing over him. These fluffy balls with jet-black soft and silky hair look like large poodles. But they aren’t poodles – these are water dogs and they need protection.
This is the Ria Formosa Nature Park in Quinta de Marim, Portugal, home to the Marim Environment Education Centre. The centre features many examples of the park’s ecosystem: salt marshes, dunes, a pine forest and traditional farming methods. It also boasts a working farm, an auditorium, a library and a research laboratory.
This is also the setting for Carla Peralta’s driving passion – water dogs. Water dogs, you see, are unusual. Thanks to their webbed feet, the animals are excellent at gathering fish and guiding them into nets. Unfortunately, until now it has been a breed that is rapidly dying out. Then along came Carla. A long-time professional dog-handler who has worked with various animals until she came across this breed.
Carla’s aim is to safeguard waterdogs, which first appeared in the region over 2,000 years ago. Although there used to be hundreds of thousands of such animals not so very long ago it is now reduced to less than 3,000. But the good news is that lots of people are keen on having one because the dogs are highly intelligent, good with children, active when required and excellent companions.
“These dogs do not obey you for a reward” says Carla, “nor are they particularly keen on swimming; they simply feel they are being useful. That’s why they want to help with fishing.”
In a world dominated by huge fishing ships that have sonar to detect schools of fish, does anyone really care about a dog with webbed feet?
“Environmentally-friendly fishing with dogs? Why not? Challenges Carla. “After all, organic farming is a big hit isn’t it? “ She concludes, “Organic fishing – yes, I’ll give that some thought!”
