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Soi Dogman of Bangkok - David Blake

David BlakeMore than ten years ago David, who lives in a suburb of Bangkok,
saw the cruel plight of abandoned dogs and young puppies near
where he lives.  He needed to do something positive about this and
not just "look the other way". i.e, someone else's problem.

When he first came to his residence 18 years ago, there were NO
dogs in his sub-soi at all. Then due to construction activities nearby
with the buliding boom some adult dogs and a few puppies were
left in the street - i.e., pushed out or just callously dumped on the
vacant blocks of land. The next event which caused an exclation in
the deliberate dumping of dogs and young puppies was the Transport
Authority's decision to buy a small piece of private land that allowed
them to open up the closed-off soi 100 metres away; this road was
then turned into a through road for vehicles, thus changing eveything
for the worse in this previously quiet, contained moobaan.

Several litters of young puppies were dumped 120 meters  away, usually late at night, by motorists passing through this new by-pass road. These puppies would certainly would have been run over within a few days, so David arranged for them to be brought down to the quieter, vacant land blocks near him, where he sheltered them in dog houses he built entirely from dumped buliding materials. Here they received clean water, good dog food and medicine for their skin diseases and tick defence as well as other illnesses that arose.

Most importantly, David spearheaded the effort to successfully neuter (de-sex) all the soi dogs and puppies in his and a number of close sub-sois over several years - more than 45 animals. He received help from on or two nearby residents in this program. In the beginning the BMA made a mass pick-up and return of neutered dogs (14)  but then they would not follow-up when asked. David managed to get BMA to de-sex another 11 animals only by his arranging a local pick-up to travel to the BMA dog neuter center in Huay Kwang. The journey to and from Huay Kwang was a "nightmare" but the job got done. After that the BMA were useless. David got more help from his lady land-owner who arranged a  local vet at her expense to come to her house and work all day in the front garden of her house to neuter a further 11 dogs. 
David could not secure any practical help from the private animal shelters e.g., the TSPCA and other break-away "so-called dog carers" who only appeared interested in securing donated money!!

The break-through came when David met up with SCAD Soi Dog Recue
Group, run by a dedicated group of farang ladies. They sent over transport and holding cages and collected the growing puppies thrust on David by cruel "Puppy Dumpers" , neutering and vacinating them, before returning some, keeping others for adoption-out under their programs. The next big breakthrough was David's meeting up with a kind and knowledgeable farang lady who he calls  "The Florence Nightingale of Canines". Apart from her own pick-up vehicle she is an expert with the Blow Dart, so helping to secure several very shy female dogs, who had to be neutered to prevent a puppy explosion. And so today all dogs near David, male and female, have been successfully neutered - with only three of these grown dogs (now 2 years old) actually born here.

This is despite the activities of a Salaeng rubbish-bin driver during 2008 dumping at least 5 litters of puppies on the nearby vacant land blocks, always very late at night so no one could see or catch him. He has now been confronted and given a final warning to cease his cruel habbit. Many of these dumped puppies died from cars, virus or snakes - but David managed to find homes for many more. However, he needed to feed them on milk-replacer, medicines and wean them onto good dog
food beforehand ; they also needed shelter from the other soi dogs and the rain.

Often David has had to take a sick puppy inside of his motor-cycle jacket to the local Vet hospital and leave them there for several days before collecting them for later adoption. Many of the sick ones needing more time, finished up in the kitchen of his home for weeks and months at a time before they could face the tough grown soi dogs on the street.

Nevertheless, David looks back in satisfaction on his work as a PRACTICAL Soi Dogman and the goog health and dispostion of the more than 20 soi dogs still under his daily care and attention. Some kind people, hearing of his work for homeless dogs, have donated money for food and direct food supply to ease his financial burden. David thanks all concerned over the past few years for stabilising the dog population in his Moobaan and contributing to their cost of food and care.

       
August, 2009
 

ชมรมสร้างสรรค์สุนัขพันธุ์ไทย - Creative Thai Dog Club THAILAND Email: trdthaiclub@yahoo.com