Bringing free food to our temple dogs

The Tiger Cave Temple or Wat Tham Sua is one of our main projects that we focus on in Krabi. The temple complex is one of the largest in Thailand and it also boasts the tallest stupa in the world that they have been working on for a very long time. Because of this it is a major tourism attraction to Buddhists and non Buddhists. Because of the very large grounds that are sealed in by mountain walls on most sides, it is also a major place for stray dogs.

We have been working at this temple for the longest of our 3 temple projects and our main focus is to make sure the dogs are sterilized to prevent out of control population expansion. There are scores of dogs here already and no matter what part of the temple you visit, there are going to be dogs all over the place.

We teamed up with the monks a while ago to help them out with vaccinations, sterilizations that we do all of ourselves, and also to make sure that the dogs get enough food. The monks, long before we ever got involved, did the best they could with table scraps and rice to feed the dogs, but in the past 2 years the restrictions placed on this country has limited the amount of visitors and therefore the amount of donations that they receive to buy food for themselves, let alone for the animals that live there.

This is where we come in. Every now and then we stop by to say hello to both monks and dogs alike, and to drop off a bunch of dog food that we of course provide for free. This isn't the highest quality dog food. It certainly isn't some designer dog food that you get at your veterinarian but to be honest with you I have never really believed the claims on those bags about their health benefits anyway. Maybe they are true, maybe it is all just marketing. I have no idea but I do know this: Having this cheap dog food is better than not having any food at all.

The dogs are normally really thrilled to see us because they have come to know us. Some of the ones that have made their "roost" near the entrance seem to even recognize our car or the sound of it and alert all the others and we have a big group of pals wagging their tails when we arrive. I like to think that this is because they appreciate what we are doing for them but mostly it probably has something to do with the treats that we bring along with us.

_{probably not the best photo example, since this little fluffer seems quite disinterested in the treat}

We make this stop once a month to drop off around 4 bags of food or if the monks call us and ask. The monks do still provide their own food if they have any and this is basically how all the temples I have ever been to operate. The monks always give their scraps to the dogs and will often prepare a little bit extra for their furry friends.

It's been a little while since I was in the western world so I don't really have any idea how much dog food costs back there but these bags end up costing us less than $20 a bag. That's less than $1 a kilogram so I think this is a very good deal. Of course we are getting a discount because we are a charity and also because we purchase in bulk. Still, it just goes to show how far a donation goes in our charity industry.

Because of our efforts over the past couple of years we have noticed a nice improvement to the overall health of the dogs there and other than new dogs getting dropped off, there have been no new puppies. This means that our sterilization efforts are having exactly the effect that we desired. These things take many years to reach a point of control, but we are well on our way!

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If you would like to see how you can help out or simply spread the word, please visit our website at

http://krabianimalwelfare.org

_{Krabi Animal Welfare is a charity run entirely by volunteers and are a registered non-profit organization in Thailand and the U.K.. We aim to relieve the pain and suffering of dogs and cats within Krabi Province.}

เป็นผู้สนับสนุนรายเดือนหรือบริจาคครั้งเดียวได้ที่:

http://krabianimalwelfare.org

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