Rigo killed Lorenzo because of San Juan Bautista

Lorenzo lived very comfortably in his apartment, where Catalina visited him daily to tidy his things and prepare his meals. Lorenzo always wore an olive-green jacket with yellow trim, much like a traffic officer.

Rigo, for his part, lived in a small room at the back of the large house that Catalina looked after, where she also prepared meals for the other residents who lived there.

Lorenzo had an excellent relationship with Catalina, who went out of her way to meet his every preference and need. He was happy savoring the tropical fruits she offered him: Cavendish bananas from the Zona, sugar mangoes grown in the cove of Papare, as well as the juicy papayas from Aguacoca and Sevillano; he also had a weakness for tres leches cake and Napoleón pastry, his two favorites.

Rigo watched all the attention Catalina lavished on Lorenzo and couldn't help but swallow hard, his unhealthy jealousy toward Lorenzo growing day by day — Lorenzo being entirely unaware of the feelings that Catalina's care stirred in Rigo.

Rigo was a plain dresser: a brown-and-white uniform with black trousers. He was an extremely untidy person, careless about his appearance, yet he prided himself on a spotless white smile.

Unlike Lorenzo, who adored fruits and sunflowers — which sparked rumors about his sexual inclinations — Rigo was one hundred percent carnivore, and there was nothing he loved more in life than a thick, fatty rump cut, a slab of belly pork, a chicken leg, or a fish fillet.

Rigo liked parties and noise, while Lorenzo hated them. There was no time of year Lorenzo dreaded more than the Festival of Little Candles, Christmas, New Year's — along with the patron saint festivities of San Juan Bautista and the celebration of the Virgen del Carmen. On June 24th, the very day of San Juan, as the song goes, the town overflowed with joy. Noise, music, and fireworks rang through every street. Fireworks — precisely what Lorenzo could not bear, whether from old age or some childhood trauma. Nearby, the sound of volcanes, triquitraques, matasuegras, cebollitas, voladores, choriceras, and castillos lit up the sky.

Driven to desperation by all the noise, Lorenzo tried to find refuge in the cuarto de San Alejo until the celebrations died down. In his fear, he didn't notice that Rigo was watching him from behind a palm tree, filled with rage from the jealousy of knowing Catalina preferred Lorenzo over him. When Lorenzo came close, Rigo landed the first blow on his head. Lorenzo managed to get up; Rigo grabbed him by the head and, with his own nails, literally gouged out one of his eyes. That only enraged Rigo further, who kept hitting, kicking, and biting every part of his body until he was completely dead. Faced with the scene of the terrible crime he had just committed, Rigo dragged Lorenzo's body with great difficulty to a stormwater drain and dropped him in, letting the current carry him away.

Catalina never understood why Lorenzo had left the house without even saying goodbye, after they had been such good friends.

Rigo became withdrawn, sullen, and quick to explode at the slightest thing. Those who knew him say that whenever he heard "Grito Vagabundo" by Guillermo Buitrago y sus Muchachos, he would sing from the very depths of his heart, specifically the verse that goes:
yo quiero pegar un grito y no me dejan,
yo quiero pegar un grito vagabundo

What Rigo wanted was to shout to the world that he had been the killer of innocent Lorenzo — but he never had the courage to do it.

I forgot to tell you who the characters in this story were:

• Lorenzo: Green parrot, yellow head. Horatis or Loro rey, 20 years old

• Rigo: Dog, Beagle breed, 2 years old, restless and playful

• Catalina: Woman from Bolívar, responsible for the household chores

This story is fiction. No animals were harmed.

Analysis and reflections from Fundación Loros

This story exposes a danger that is far too common: the close coexistence of dogs and domesticated parrots.

Dogs are natural predators: they can injure or kill a parrot that has lost its fear of approaching them. For that reason, parrots — even those that live "free" inside the house — should never be left unsupervised in the presence of dogs.

Keeping a parrot in captivity means accepting a long list of risks that go well beyond the cage itself. Beyond the danger posed by a trusting, playful dog that, once it loses its fear, can bite and kill, there are many other everyday threats: a fatal collision with a window; a sleeping bird, vulnerable, crushed by a piece of furniture; a cat's ambush; even strangulation in the cords of its own toys; or death from exhaustion or wounds while trying to escape through the bars. A parrot that cannot fly is exposed to every corner of the home as an alien and hostile territory.

The true lesson left by the tragic story of Rigo and Lorenzo is that birds were not made for walls and ceilings, but to soar through forests and jungles.