I’m starting a fundraising campaign to help our poor canine buddies in desperate need of shelter and treatment. The donations will be disbursed to 3–4 dog shelters here in Bangkok that are really known to do good work. We have a few candidates at hand but haven’t finalised the list yet. As soon as the list is ready, I’ll put it up here along with links to their websites.
How the Idea Came Up
There’s a sizable bunch of stray dogs in my neighbourhood, and one of them gave birth to a litter of 8 pups about a month back. The mother herself is in extremely poor health—very thin and frail. Not surprisingly, the pups came out small and weak. They are really cute though, with a mix of colours: 3 pitch black, 1 brown, 3 white with black patches around the eyes (looks like they’re wearing glasses), and 1 white with a black patch only around one eye.
As they grew a bit bigger, the mom couldn’t feed them anymore—she’d run away every time they tried to suckle. Their pitiful hunger cries echoed constantly. Luckily, the neighbours kept leaving food for them regularly, which helped a lot.
These pups stayed in an uninhabited house in a back lane behind my house. I could always see and hear them from a bedroom window upstairs. Then, last Thursday evening, one of the pups started whimpering. At first I thought it was hunger, but the cries grew louder and more consistent as the night went on. It got dark, and entering that house was nearly impossible because the entrance is covered with dense foliage—likely full of snakes and scorpions. The cries didn’t stop even around midnight. They sounded like a human baby in great pain. We couldn’t hold back any longer, so I went to check.
I put on my high-ankled boots and pushed through the vegetation. I found one of the black pups lying on the ground, seemingly paralysed. All he could do was move his head and cry pitifully. He was so weak he couldn’t stand. When I picked him up he stopped crying, but the moment I put him down he started again with renewed vigour. He’d try to stand, go around in circles, and collapse. Bringing him back woke up half the neighbourhood, and many suggested rushing him to a clinic.
We got him admitted to a local dog clinic/hospital, but even there they couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Prognosis varied from canine distemper to worm toxemia to possible brain damage at birth. The only certainty: this pup won’t live a normal life and can’t survive a day on the streets. He needs proper food and shelter 24/7. Both my wife and I travel frequently for work, so we can’t be with him all the time. The clinic also warned that the rest 7 pups stand a high chance of contracting whatever disease he has, so they need immediate vaccination.
That’s when I started searching for dog shelters around Bangkok. I found several active ones that take care of sponsored strays. “Sponsored” means they accept monthly donations and in return guarantee good care. Nothing runs without money. As of now, I’m footing the bill for this pup’s treatment, but I don’t know if I can keep up with monthly sponsorship for all eight.
What I’m Asking For
I’m actively seeking help from anyone who can spare a penny—any amount matters. You can donate via the ChipIn widget on my blog, Chaos Laboratory, or on my wife’s blog, MindChimes. As long as you have a PayPal account, the donation is secure and takes one step.
Once the campaign ends, I’ll publish a thank-you note with all donors’ names on both blogs, along with links to their sites (if any). As an incentive, I can offer one-way backlinks from two PR4 and PR3 blogs for donors who have a website.
