“On multiple occasions I’ve visited the shelter and there were dogs dying from distemper, parvovirus and various other conditions.”
Those are the damning words used by Lanta Animal Welfare’s Clinical Director Helen Guy to describe a government shelter in Trang, a city around 120 kilometres from Koh Lanta.
But thankfully those dark, dark days are coming to an end.
Lanta Animal Welfare has teamed up with FOUR PAWS in a new project aimed at transforming the welfare of street dogs in and around Trang.
It is the only partnership of its kind in Thailand, and the programme will consist of four major components: sterilisation and vaccination, stabilisation of the dog population, medicine and disease protocol, and training and education.
Supported by the government and the Department of Livestock, this project aims to greatly improve effectiveness of the government shelter, and reduce and control the numbers of stray dogs in around the city.
“Both charities, ourselves and FOUR PAWS, were interested in trying to create some kind of sustainable, long-term solution to the dog problem, and trying also to enable the government to manage the problem more effectively,” said Helen Guy.
“Trang was identified as having a huge street dog population, and also a failing shelter in disrepair. A lot of the dogs in there were sick, injured, not cared for, not sterilised, not vaccinated.”
The situation was so bad that the shelter did not even know how many dogs were in their facility. There was simply no record of intake, so no one had any idea how many dogs were within the walls or what the capacity should be.
The most pressing need was to tackle the problem inside the shelter and the good news is huge steps forward have been made in a very short space of time.
Last month Lanta Animal Welfare and FOUR PAWS performed a two-part wellness clinic at Trang Shelter. The objectives were to ensure all dogs were sterilised and vaccinated, treated for internal and external parasites, inventoried, and any medical conditions attended to.
As part of this programme, each dog was inventoried (age, sex, description) and identified by a number on a collar. It was discovered there were 224 dogs in total in the shelter.
A mass sterilisation and vaccination programme was called for and, of those 224 dogs, only 10 now remain unsterilised due to their age or concurrent disease. They will be sterilised at a later date.
All healthy dogs also received combi (distemper, parvovirus, adenovirus and parainfluenza) and rabies vaccinations to protect against fatal diseases. Parasite prevention was administered to all dogs as tick, flea and worm infestations were rife.
A number of the more seriously sick dogs were rescued and brought to Lanta Animal Welfare where they will receive long-term treatment before being made available for adoption.
These are early days for this project, but the signs are hugely encouraging.
The Department of Livestock (DLD), the mayor of Trang and Trang municipality visited during the clinic to show their appreciation and learn more about our work. DLD staff offered their help with recording and surgical preparation work. Several local volunteers came to help with grooming, cleaning and catching of the dogs.
After completion of the clinic, LAW and FOUR PAWS attended a meeting with DLD and other relevant stakeholders, including municipality and rotary club, to discuss the project and provide a timeline for the next steps.
“All parties were receptive to our presentations on dog population management and what we hope to achieve through this project,” added Helen Guy.
“They are now focused on sterilisation over sheltering as a long-term solution to dog overpopulation, a complete turnaround from the previous thinking.”
Everyone at Lanta Animal Welfare would like to take this opportunity to thank our good friends at FOUR PAWS and everyone who has donated to make this project possible.
Together, we are changing lives every single day.