Checking in with the Tiger Cave Temple stray dogs
The Tiger Cave Temple project in Krabi, Thailand is one of my favorite ones because we decided years ago that we were going to focus a lot of our efforts on this particular temple because it is famous throughout Thailand and also a semi-contained environment. Our hopes was that if we were able to prove that medical and sterilization-oriented actions could lead to real results and perhaps use this data to sway the government to help out a little bit, not necessarily with money but with education.
It really is kind of remarkable and sad that there is so little awareness of the suffering of stray dogs and cats in Thailand and much of this is very preventable but mostly by sterilization which for one reason or another, many Thai people feel is a really bad thing to do to an animal. I don't think they are looking at the bigger picture here though in that by allowing these animals to breed like mad, we are basically ensuring that they will all live a life of constant hunger, pain, disease, and suffering.
I regularly visit the Tiger Cave Temple because it has been a real success story since we have managed to get the stray population under control for years now and the events of disease breakouts are very rare and immediately taken care of in the best way that we can.
The fact that the dogs and cats at the really large temple complex can near my truck approaching and come running out of wherever they are hiding is something that never stops amusing me though.
I will not deny that a great deal of their enthusiasm comes from the fact that I always come bearing delicious gifts but it is just amazing to me that there are hundreds of vehicles that come into this parking lot every single day but they have figured out the look or perhaps even the engine sound of my truck and come running from all directions even before I have parked.
Do they love me? I don't know and it also doesn't matter to me. I love them and I am concerned for their well-being. There are more than 100 dogs at this temple and most of them don't even have names. Only the ones with really unusual personalities or the ones that have taken a liking to a particular monk end up with names.
While I don't know what to call most of them, I do recognize many of them based on their personalities and I know which ones I can handle safely.
Important note!
I am picking this dog up because I have been interacting with her for years. It is NEVER a good idea to try to pick up a dog that lives outdoors that you do not know. This is a really bad idea and you could end up getting seriously hurt if you try to do it. While I do think it is a good idea to help dogs that don't have a home, you should always be very aware of the fact that these dogs are capable of causing you great harm very quickly. So please, be careful.
The 2nd best thing you can do for a dog that doesn't have a home is to make sure that it has access to clean water and nourishing food. The 1st best thing you can do for not just that animal, but the stray animal population in general, is to get it sterilized especially if it is a female.
I am happy to say that by using my own eyes and through the reports from the monks that live at the temple all day every day, there are no signs of illness in any of the dogs and that while there has been a few dogs abandoned in the past few months, the situation remains stable at the Tiger cave Temple and this is a win across the board for us at Krabi Animal Welfare.
We need to celebrate these small victories!
If you would like to see how you can help out or simply spread the word, please visit our website at
http://krabianimalwelfare.org
เป็นผู้สนับสนุนรายเดือนหรือบริจาคครั้งเดียวได้ที่: