Bridging the animal care gulf in the Gulf of Thailand, from ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 2004

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2004:

 

 

Bridging the animal care gulf in the Gulf of Thailand

 

Koh PhaNgan, Thailand-- " The island government has just

done--for the first time since we have been here--a mass culling of

dogs, " PhaNgan Animal Care practice manager Amber Holland e-mailed

to ANIMAL PEOPLE on December 29.

" We are outraged to say the least, " Holland continued, " and

have had a letter printed in The National, " a leading Thai newspaper

published in English. " All of the dogs were desexed, vaccinated,

and healthy, and were indiscriminately killed for no other reason

than laziness and lack of creative thinking " by authorities who made

them scapegoats for slower-than-hoped-for Christmas tourism.

Koh PhaNgan, north of Koh Samui, is the smaller of two

islands in the Gulf of Thailand, close to the Malay Peninsula. Not

one of the busier and better known Thai tourist destinations, it

caters chiefly to divers--like Irish veterinarian Shevaun Gallwey,

who began visiting while practicing in Hong Kong.

" I have always been saddened to see the condition of the Thai beach

dogs when holidaying there, and have been frustrated, as a

veterinarian, at not being able to help them. So, when embarking on

a three-month visit to Koh PhaNgan in early 2001, " Gallwey told the

Asia for Animals conference in September 2003,

" I borrowed equipment and medicines from the Dog Rescue Centre

Samui, " founded by German retiree Brigitte Gomm on the island to the

south in April 1999, " and brought them to Koh PhaNgan. With the

assistance of long term resident Heidi Farmer, I carried out free

neutering, vaccination, and skin and wound treatment. The work was

so gratefully received that I decided to try to provide some more

permanent care on this island.

" With the assistance of the Animals Asia Foundation and the

Dog Rescue Center Samui, " Gallwey continued, " we founded PhaNgan

Animal Care. It has been gratefully embraced by the island

residents, who never before had any option to obtain treatment, "

unless the animal was transported off the island, which was beyond

the means of most Thai islanders. Before the Dog Rescue Center Samui

began bringing veterinarians to Samui, the nearest vet was on the

mainland.

Nira Brande, owner of two bakeries and a PhaNgan resident

since 1989, had previously tried to bring veterinary care to

PhaNgan. When Brande heard what Gallwey and Farmer were doing, she

helped to convert a building into the clinic site, hosted the grand

opening, and became the organization's liaison to the local

government, an often difficult job because of the hostility toward

dogs shown by many of the PhaNgan resort owners.

Traditionally, the resort owners were at liberty to poison

street dogs and free-roaming pets, and often did, without being

called to account. Now PhaNgan Animal Care has joined the media

campaign against poisoning begun by Brigit Gomme on Samui.

" We could not have settled on Koh Samui without a

veterinarian and closed our eyes to the animal misery, " Gomme

recalled at the fourth anniversary of starting the Dog Rescue Center

Samui. " The goverment secretly poisoned hundreds of unwanted dogs in

the cruelest manner and then removed them on trucks at night. Since

only the strongest dogs got enough poisoned meat, the others were

only half dead. Tourists who happened to witness this in earlier

years were totally shocked and as a result never came back. "

Photos and descriptions of the Samui poisonings eventually

appeared in German newspapers, further discouraging tourism.

After the Dog Rescue Center Samui began sterilizing from 50

to 70 dogs and cats per month and built a sanctuary for more than 170

dogs and 20 cats who had to be removed completely from some hotel

grounds, " The government stopped the mass poisoning, " Gomme

continued. " Unfortunately, some hotel managers still poison

animals, " still not understanding that the poisonings offend more

tourists than the presence of dogs and cats if the animals are

healthy.

In the first two full years that PhaNgan Animal Care

operated, Gallwey and team sterilized 730 animals, mostly dogs but

also some cats, and treated more than 6,300. The organization grew

to occupy three fulltime staff, with Gallwey dividing her time

between PhaNgan, where she volunteers, and her paid work in Hong

Kong.

Other team members are Holland, originally from Oregon, who

previously did animal welfare work in the Cook Islands and Costa

Rica; veterinary nurse Lia Titman, originally from Oxford, England,

also a veteran of animal welfare work in the Cook Islands; and

veterinary nurse trainee Ampai Thongpliw, called Por, who comes

from the northeast of Thailand.

Other than Gallwey's contributions, " Veterinary care is

limited to visits from volunteering veterinarians, which thankfully

is frequent, " Holland told ANIMAL PEOPLE. The staff encourages

veterinarians to take diving vacations to PhaNgan and, while there,

to donate a day or two to the clinic in exchange for help in

arranging their tours.

" The clinic operates by requesting donations only to cover

supplies used in treating pets. All strays are treated at the

expense of the clinic, " Holland continued " In addition, all

temples, which are last-resort refuges for stray animals, are

visited regularly, and every temple animal is neutered at the

clinic's expense. No animal (stray or owned) has been denied

treatment since our opening. "

Holland, scheduled to leave in April, is now seeking her

own replacement, which she admitted feels " very much like planning

my own funeral. There are many aspects to the position, " she said,

which includes being the primary fundraiser for PhaNgan Animal Care,

" but the most important point is to remain as friendly and smiley and

good-hearted as possible, in keeping with the Koh PhaNgan way. "

Inquiries are welcome c/o PhaNgan Animal Care, P.O. Box 70,

Thong Sala, Koh PhaNgan, Suratthani 84280, Thailand;

<info; <www.pacthailand.org>.

" Take a peek at 'Medically Interesting Cases' for a look at

medical care that PAC provides the animals of the island, " the

PhaNgan Animal Care web site advises. " We understand that all of you

may not be interested in blood and guts so we have provided 'Cute and

Cuddly Cases' for your warm, fuzzy enjoyment. "

The Dog Rescue Center Samui also welcomes skilled visiting

volunteers, c/o 112/35 Moo 6 Bophut, Saui 84320 Surath-thani,

Thailand; 077-413-490; <info; <www.samuidog.org>.

--Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

 

--

Kim Bartlett, Publisher of ANIMAL PEOPLE Newspaper

Postal mailing address: P.O. Box 960, Clinton WA 98236 U.S.A.

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Website: http://www.animalpeoplenews.org/

 

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Something to think about: We believe that the Golden Rule

applies to animals, too. We don't accept the prevailing notion

that " people come first' " or that " people are more important than

animals. " Animals feel pain and suffer just as we do, and it is

almost always humans making animals suffer and not the other way

around. Yet in spite of how cruelly people behave towards animals

-- not to mention human cruelty to other humans -- we are supposed to

believe that humans are superior to other animals. If people want

to fancy themselves as being of greater moral worth than the other

creatures on this earth, we should begin behaving better than they

do, and not worse. Let's start treating everyone as we would like

to be treated ourselves.