The Town with More Dogs than People

Hidden in the jungles near San José, Costa Rica is a canine paradise known locally as ’The Land Of The Strays.’ After moving into the area and discovering the plight of the stray dog population, Lya Battle set out to buy a farm and fill it with all the local canines requiring salvation. Territorio de Zaguates is now a privately funded, volunteer-run haven for nearly 1000 strays who are given free reign of the jungle. It’s not all love though, with locals jealous of her land breaking in and poisoning her dogs in a quest to intimidate her out of the area. Lya refuses to quit, merely strengthening her walls and continuing to take more dogs in every day. VICE goes on a walk with hundreds of strays and meets their owner to learn why she begun her mission to become the Costa Rican dog messiah. Click here to subscribe to VICE: About VICE: The Definitive Guide To Enlightening Information. From every corner of the planet, our immersive, caustic, ground-breaking and often bizarre stories have changed the way people think about culture, crime, art, parties, fashion, protest, the internet and other subjects that don’t even have names yet. Browse the growing library and discover corners of the world you never knew existed. Welcome to VICE. Connect with VICE: Check out our full video catalog: Videos, daily editorial and more: More videos from the VICE network: Click here to get the best of VICE daily: Like VICE on Facebook: Follow VICE on Twitter: Follow us on Instagram: The VICE YouTube Network: VICE: MUNCHIES: VICE News: VICELAND: Broadly: Noisey: Motherboard: VICE Sports: i-D: Waypoint: