Immediately upon our arrival in Patagonia, I noticed that there were dogs EVERWHERE. Just like in Tahiti, or some of the more remote places we saw in Europe, dogs in both El Chalten and El Calafate roam the streets from dawn till dusk.

Most of the time, they're just walking down the street like they have somewhere to be, but sometimes you'll see them outside of a restaurant or grocery store, just hanging out like they're waiting for someone.

They sometimes have collars, but are almost always friendly, whether they look like a stray or not.

I finally asked a girl in El Chalten what the deal was with the dogs, and, unfortunately, it sounds like the dogs are a big problem.

In El Chalten, a much smaller city, people "own dogs" but don't do anything to take care of them. That's why there were so many hiding under cars or overhangs in the bad weather. (Very sad to see.) And people will come to town during the high season, then go back to Barcelona for the winter, and just leave the dog behind, which becomes a problem for the endangered deer species in El Chalten, so the strays often get taken up to El Calafate. What happens to them there, apparently no one knows.

The girl we talked to said that she was in the middle of fighting with one of the owners, because his dog--a huge white mix--bit her car a couple of weeks ago. And others have had problems being barked at, or chased down the street on a bike.

We didn't run into any unfriendly dogs, most of them were more than happy to pose for a picture. In this situations, I always find myself thinking that--if I ever get the opportunity to "do whatever I want," opening a dog spay/neuter/rescue service in a place like this will be high on my list.