Meet Sam, Chile's Cleaner Dog

Sam the dog (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - A dog named Sam became a four-legged superhero, in Chile. He works to keep parks in the Chilean capital clean and green. What are Sam's superpowers? Collecting trash as a role model for visitors.

The clever border collie who regularly walks in Santiago's metropolitan park with his owner has become a well-known creature, wearing the green cloak in the comics used as an educational guide.

It all started when Sam and Gonzalo Chiang had to stop several times at the city's largest green area to pick up plastic bottles, masks, cans, and boxes of food.

"While walking with Sam, we found a lot of trash," Chiang said. "Since then, we've had to be prepared to pick up any trash found at each visit."

More and more trash is found. In April, they collected 602 masks, 585 bottles, and 304 cans, as well as clothing, helmets, and food wrappers.

"These streets are a good opportunity for cleaning, not littering," Chiang said, as quoted by ANTARA.

Park authorities were impressed with Sam who regularly came at least three times a week. Finally, the dog appeared in the campaign to guard the park.

Catalina Aravena turned the 5.5-year-old dog into a cartoon in "Sam: The Parquemet Superhero", asking visitors not to litter or throw it in the park's more than 40 trash cans.

"It is becoming more widespread than imagined. It is reaching schools and social media," Aravena said.

The park launched an anti-littering campaign last year, asked drink sellers to change from plastic cups to glassware, and started making different trash cans according to type so they can be sorted.

"Sam and Gonzalo have inspired us to accelerate the educational process and structure this waste classification," concluded park director Eduardo Villalobos.