This is a very special Future in Five coming to you from Santiago, Chile, where I just finished speaking to 800 top HR leaders in Latin America. While visiting Santiago I was struck by the number of stray dogs everywhere. I learned that at one point the local government wanted to step in put these dogs to sleep. The people of Santiago were mortified, and there was an outcry against harming these animals. When a stray dog was found, the citizens of Santiago would step in to claim it as their own. The government, in turn, could not kill put a dog to sleep that belonged to someone. Today the stray dogs in Santiago are viewed as dogs that belong to the people. They are fed, looked after and during bad weather the locals give the dogs jackets to keep them warm and dry. I have not seen locals in any city thus far treat stray dogs with so much love and kindness. While taking pictures of a museum I saw a lady actually lay down on the floor next to a stray dog to give it a hug!
What is fascinating about this story, is that change didn’t start from the top, it started from ordinary people who wanted to see things done as they believed was right.