Guide dog dies after being scared by fireworks and falling down a ravine

Tragedy struck on Sunday for 70-year-old Juan Navarro when his guide dog, a Labrador called Rubio, got scared by fireworks during the local fiesta in his hometown of Monachil in Andalucía, managed to escape from his home and ran away from the noise falling down a ravine, where he was found dead.

Half of the village came out to look for Rubio on Monday, who has been Juan’s guide dog since 2016, and after several hours they found his dead body at the bottom of the ravine.

“He used to get restless whenever a rocket went off and used to try to hide under pieces of furniture even though he was too big to get under them,” said Juan about the eight-year-old labrador.

Normally, Juan was able to calm him down, but on Sunday the rockets began late at night when he was still in bed. “When I found he wasn’t here, I was very surprised. I don’t know how he got out, but he just ran off in a panic,” Juan said.

“We were very close. We spent 24 hours a day together for years and he helped me out of some difficult situations. I’m helpless without him because I’m blind. Now I have to start the process again to find a new guide dog, and that will take four or five months”.

Juan said this was not an isolated case, and many animals have gone missing at fiesta time over the years. Some have been found, others have been run over on the road, and some have just disappeared completely.

“It’s not just animals, either. People with autism, babies, elderly people, and heart patients, they’re all affected by fireworks. It’s just making noise for the sake of it, it’s senseless,” he said.

Juan says that he doesn’t want the fair cancelled, just celebrated differently, and he is not alone. Local residents have now created a petition for Fireworks to be banned at the Monachil fiesta from next year.