A former military dog, a Venezuelan street mutt, and a cannibalistic Shih Tzu, who have lost their owners, escape rescue cages. Now they have to learn to survive together in a colonial Ecuadorian mountain town, bisected by winding rivers that descend to the Amazon. The pack spends afternoons under park benches, eavesdropping on locals, tourists, and immigrants. They call it University. Dogs and humans find each other and bond through loss, each individual story revealed through unsettled dreams. But both humans and dogs have one person in common. Esmeralda is a guileless eight-year-old, born of violence. To the pack, she's magical, delivering them scraps from her family's market. She helps the weakest while oblivious to her own peril, but her English tutor sees the menace around her. Gerry's a disgraced professor who cradles his own secret sadness. When Esmeralda is taken, the dogs and Gerry face the devil deep in the Andes while searching for their queen.
