Bangkok is full of stray dogs. It seems that every temple, construction site and neighborhood 7-11 has at least one or two strays roaming around. The stray dog population here is estimated to be around 300,000.
Many of the strays in Bangkok are neighborhood "pets" -- they don't belong to any one family in particular, but often whole neighborhoods will put out scraps for the animal. We've seen street food vendors and construction workers hand out snacks for strays in their neighborhood. It's not unusual to see stray dogs in Bangkok wearing collars. This is Luong (not sure what that means -- we call him "Fat Dog"), who is the mascot of the motorcycle taxi guys who work our street.
Other strays -- especially those at temples -- are dumped there by people who are disposing of unwanted family pets or neighborhood pests. Buddhist teachings about the sanctity of life dissuade people from killing them (or having them spayed or neutered), so they decide to throw them over the wall of the local temple for the monks to deal with. The monks don't much like having them around, but are willing to leave the dogs alone to hang out.
SCAD, or Soi Cat & Dog Rescue (www.scadbangkok.org), in Bangkok is one of the leading stray animal rescue organizations here. They're not primarily an adoption agency -- most of their work is dedicated to animal birth control (ABC) work. There's no way a single organization could find the money or the space to take all of the thousands of stray dogs and cats who roam Bangkok 's streets.
So SCAD's primary mission is to take these animals from their neighborhoods, inoculate and neuter them, and put them back. However, every once in a while they'll take cats and dogs in for adoption. Usually they're puppies and kittens whose mothers have been killed (usually after being hit by a car or being poisoned) and who are too young to live on their own.
Back in February, Patrick travelled to the U.S. for business. A couple of weeks before his trip, he called SCAD to see if they had any dogs who needed a ride. SCAD's "Hearts & Hounds" program has agreements with shelters in the U.S. and Canada that are willing to take dogs from Bangkok who need homes. SCAD and an agency in the Washington, D.C. area agreed that Sua (Tiger) would be a good candidate to fly to the U.S.
Last year he'd been hit by a car and was paralyzed. Over the last few months he made a seemingly miraculous recovery and now walks normally. So, Patrick was Sua's escort to his new home country. A lady from Lost Dog and Cat Rescue in Washington , D.C. met Patrick at Dulles International Airport to take Sua and help him find his forever home.
When Patrick was working with SCAD on the paperwork for Sua's transfer, we both had a chance to visit SCAD's adoption center. Jennifer had already planned on doing some volunteer work there once her World Bank contract was up. Here are some of the characters we met (photos in this section courtesy of SCAD, used without permission):
Ling (Monkey) is a great guy! Beautiful to look at, friendly, rambunctious and playful -- a real dog's dog. Unfortunately, Ling needs a big yard with lots of room to romp.
These three siblings (Goolap (Rose), Nampung (Honey), Ngaa (Sesame)) arrived together and charmed everyone at the center. They're a great set.
Sam Liam (Triangle) is a lovely, quiet puppy with extremely soft fur. If you put a cat's brain into a dog's body, you might end up with Sam Liam.
Finally, there's Mot Daeng (Red Ant). You remember the "weird kid" in school, the one who ate too much paste and always wanted to be in every picture? That's Mot Daeng.
The other dogs don't really like her, but to be honest, she brings it on herself. No one can chew on a leaf or sit in a shady spot without Mot Daeng coming over to chew or sit, too. We feel sorry for Mot Daeng, but ... just like the weird kid, do you really want her coming over to your house every day?
We have had so much fun playing with dogs and talking with the SCAD volunteers. Check out the website and be amazed at what a few dedicated people can do!
2 comments:
This post cracked me up! I feel sorry for poor little Mot Daeng too. :-( That is neat that this group can bring dogs to the US to find homes. I love Ling, if we did not have a child who is allergic to dogs (no cats mind you, dogs)we would probably have a dog like Ling.
The attitude on Strays must be something in common with the Pacfic/Asain countries. The strays in American Samoa when I was there was a sad sad conditions. Most of them needed to put to sleep as they had sores all over and malnourished. We were told that when the "dog situation" gets too bad they exterminate some of the dogs, but the locals get upset because even though no one claims it as their own, the are protective of the strays.
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