Saturday, November 21, 2009

Un-Thai'd... Dog's life in Thailand


Thai Dog’s Life

Of all the animals that are depicted in Buddhist scenes at the many elaborate Temples in Thailand, I was struck with the absence of dogs…especially given their presence everywhere in Thailand.  Street dogs are a distinct part of life in Thailand.  


When I first started observing dogs everywhere, I was trying to determine if there were apparent owners. 

 On occasion, I encountered dogs wearing dirty t-shirts.  I think this identified them as pets.  Most of them are dirty, scraggy, and homeless. 


Maybe that is a matter of perspective, though.  In the same way that monks depend exclusively on “alms”, daily handouts placed in stainless steel bowls they carry with them everywhere, perhaps this is how the street dogs should be viewed.  They are not abused.  And I never ran into one that was aggressive to me in anyway (this was also true of monks).   Perhaps dogs are simply considered to be “everyone’s responsibility” like the monks.


At the Prem School where Tanya’s daughter attends, I ran into an American woman who relocated to Thailand to open a golf school with her husband. 


She is actively involved (started?) a charity to raise money to provide dog food to the local Wats (temples) to supplement the rice that Monk’s provide to street dogs.   In addition, it is their goal to give as many street dogs as possible a full regimen of shots, and appropriate sterilization.





I saw very few cats in Thailand.  Interestingly, even in the most impoverished areas both in the mountains and along the train tracks in Bangkok, what I DID see were lots of handcarved bird cages with colorful little finches in them.

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