How to visit 100 dogs in Bangkok: the hidden animal shelters

The life of a dog in Bangkok can be miserable. If you are born as a toy dog like a Pomeranian or Chihuahua, chances are good you will never see much daylight or feel gras under your paws. Other pet dogs may be happy if they can get out of their cage more than 10 minutes a day. And the really lucky ones get walked.

Sometimes the owners don't really want the dog anymore and then the creatures end up in kind of make shift dog shelters. Together with street dogs, who may have been injured or people found some pies and took them there. While there are shelters with some prober roofs, water supply and food, many are run by dog ladies: Older Thai women who just love dogs and keep them in their place.

Yesterday I visited two of them, left and right from Srinakarin road, just where the Highway number 9 is crossing. I went there with the doctors from 107 Bearing Pet Hospital. Khun Naridsara, Khun Supaporn and Khun Pichamon are three amazing ladies running a pet clinic. Together with some of the (also female) assistants we went to the dog places to provide some donated food and medicine.
Each place hosts about 100 dogs, all sizes ages and breeds. The first place, owned by Aunt Ket, is reasonable clean, located in a small soi off Srinakarin road. She loves the dogs that much that she doesn't want to give away a single one.

The other place wasn't that well maintained, mainly because of the limited resources. Aunt Sombun is quite poor and lives there with her daughter, her daughters boyfriend and two grandchildren. It is a classic squatter place, slum style environment, or even worst. She has also around 100 dogs there, quite a few in poor condition, mainly because diseases are spreading there. The vets gave rabies shots to a lot of them, also to protect the kids, who are sometimes bitten by the dogs.
A rabies shot costs about 100 baht while distemper is around 270 baht, so with limited money they go for rabies first. None of the dogs in both places are neutered or sterilized. The main reason is that they need to get a extended blood check first to see if the are in a condition well enough to survive a surgery. This and the fact that they will need a week of aftercare increases the costs of neutering to 4000-6000 baht per dog.

One could argue this is not a proper place for dogs and they should be handed over to government run shelters. The problem is that those shelters host thousands of dogs already and frequently running out of money. And at the end the conditions there are only slightly better. So what the vet-ladies do is collecting donations and providing them, but also trying to give advice. Yesterday they at least tried to explain to Khun Sombun she should try to separate the sick from the healthy dogs, and I explained her how to deal with an aggressive dog that bit her once (the dog is quite traumatized, because he was dropped there in a bag with legs tied together).
If you want to help those shelters, just go there and drop some food or even money. There is always someone around. If you don't speak Thai it is not much of a problem – they will understand what the dog food is for.

Here are the coordinates of the places:

13.610209,100.621082

13.616852, 100.614097

If you want to bring donations or contact the 107 Bearing Pet Hospital, you can find them on Facebook here โรงพยาบาลสัตว์แบริ่ง:Bearing Pet Hospital

Adopt a special dog in Thailand: Tong Tang needs a home

One of my neighbors takes care of stray dogs around Ekkamai, and one dog needs a home now since he lost one of his front legs. The hospital in Ekkamai had to cut the front left leg off, but it seems to heal well. The problem is that Tong Tangs future is not so bright: He may end up in a shelter with hundreds of other dogs.

 

I do have a three leg dog as well, and it doesn't make much of a difference, only she gets quickly tired , so if you are a lazy dogwalker, that might be an advantage.




If you are interested, please contact Khun Chompoo, 0876983098, or mookaow@yahoo.com

Don't ride an elephant - but showering is ok

Last week I took a trip to Hua Hin with two friends from Germany. They asked for seeing some wildlife, but aren't the ones who have time enough to walk through the National Park for days. So I decided to pay a visit to the Wildlife Friends of Thailand Foundation. It's founder Edwin Wiek is a passionate animal lover who started the project 12 years ago. The goal is to provide shelter for rescued animals. Those animals are mainly from an human environment, like monkeys and bears hold in cages or elephants used in the begging, trekking or logging business.

Regarding the elephants (and all other animals) the WFFT has a basic rule: Wild animals belong into the wild, not in camps or zoos. Since many of the animals held in the WFFT are mentally disturbed or not able to be re-socialized, they found a new home there and will stay on the premise forever. Some monkeys are in de-humanizing programs and can hopefully released into the wild.

On 29 hectar of land the WFFT has over 400 animals, including a salt water crocodile and some other former pets who are not species usually found in Asia.

As many expats know Thailand is a country where the powerful outrule justice, so it wasn't a surprise that one day some people involved in the wildlife trade got pissed and sent the troups to the WFFT. The legal battle is still going on.

Although the WFFT is not a Zoo, it actually provides tours, so you can get a glimpse in the animals (no touching) and learn about the work they do there. Available are half day and full day experiences, including pick up at your hotel in Cha-Am or Hua Hin, a lunch, elephant walk and shower and a guided tour.

I can only recommend to pay a visit. It changed my opinion about elephant trekking. While I was convinced that some camps do treat the animals well, I forgot that they were still tortured as babys - and the brutal training is still going on. The weight of three people doesn't really hurt the elephant much, if it's just for a few hours. But the training when they are young does, and it seems there isn't any other way available in Thailand. So please, just don't do any elephant riding and besides rescue centers don't visit any Elephant camp in Thailand.

Pets' Ville - dogs heaven in Bangkok

While everyone may have been once in one of the 5 Star hotels in the top tourist destinations in Thailand, you may haven't taken your dog into one - mainly because there wasn't one. This time is over: Not yet finished, but soft opening is Pets' Ville, a dog boarding and entertainment place. Not too far from the airport the owners got a big plot of land and turned it into mans best friends heaven.

First of all, it is beautifully designed. Modern chic, cute, black and white: Teh designer did a pretty good job. The place has different sections:

a restaurant (not yet open), so you can grab a bite while watching your pet playing in the pool

a pet supply shop (under construction)

retail shops (still for rent) offering services for dogs

a salt water swimming pool (prices depend on weight and hair length, between 350 and 1000 Baht per hour)

a dog hotel: standard box is 1x1.2 meters, deluxe is 1.4 x 1.6 meter (for up to 2 small dogs), aircon and CCTV VIP is a 2.3 x 3 meter special hut with air conditions and IP Webcam (so the owners can see the dogs while on the beach via internet connection). Prices vary between 300 and 1000 Baht per room. Dogs are taken out 2 times in the morning and 2 times afternoon. Staff checks every two ours the animals wellbeing.

a playground with agility training (under construction)

a grooming service.

Before boarding the dogs (service will start in November) owner recommend to bring the dog before to see if he/she likes and and gets along with the staff (they have four staff and security there all day). Also, dog owners have to bring medical records as well as last heartworm treatment date and flea/tick control prove.

Although the service isn't cheap, the place can become a community place for dog owners very soon. You can just come for grooming or the pool or even to let your dog play and run with others (for a small fee). I was impressed by the modern style, but also by the quality of building. This is all well built and constructed.

You can get more information on Facebook http://facebook.com/petsvillebkk, on Instagram petsville, Line ID petsvilleBKK

Address is Sukhaphiban 2 Road which intersected with On-nut Road. The place's in between Sukhaphiban 2 soi 7 and soi 9, next to Baan Patra., Phone number 081-818-2850, 080-000-6976, Open 9am-6pm.
A map and geo coordinates are here