When Lanta Animal Welfare rescued Nixon in March 2022, his prognosis was bleak, to say the very least.

We genuinely feared he would not survive his first night with us because the burn wounds to his head were so severe, and he had gone into septic shock.

It’s hard to imagine he has come so far in just one year.

Nixon amazed us all with his powers of recovery, and he continued to amaze us throughout his time with us.

He had been so badly treated. Someone had caused him so much harm. How could he be so friendly?

Remarkably, however, he was. He has the most wonderful, sweet nature.

And that nature was what endeared him to his new family – Frida, Olivia, Charlie and Dante.

“I had read about him on the website him before we visited the centre for a tour,” says Frida (pictured below with Nixon). “His story captured my heart and I felt like I needed to take care of him.

“We didn’t actually meet Nixon as part of the tour that day, although we met him as were leaving as he was going out for a walk. We gave him a stroke and he laid his head in my hands and at that point I knew.”

Frida still had to convince Olivia of her adoption plan, however.

“We went home and I talked about him for several days and at first she said no, but she always says no at first! She needs more time to think, I am more spontaneous.

“We had two dogs before, one who passed away and one who lives at Olivia’s dad’s house because she didn’t like children.”

Liking children would obviously be crucial to Nixon’s chances of a successful adoption, with Frida and Olivia having two young kids, Charlie and Dante.

No one need have worried.

“We met Nixon with [canine behaviorist] Ben in the office at LAW, and he was just sitting at the doorway, barely interested in us. When we were getting ready to leave and we were saying goodbye, Nixon went up to Charlie and kissed her on the cheek, and he kissed Dante on the knee. It was like he was saying, ‘OK, goodbye, you are OK’.

“Charlie is very happy and I think it’s going to be very good for her. She wants to be a vet when she grows up, so I think it will be perfect.

“I can’t understand how no one has adopted him before. I love that he looks a bit rough, he has some scars and you can see what he has been through in his life. And still he is so nice, relaxed and calm.”

To watch Nixon’s story, click below.

The post From near death in Thailand to a new life in Sweden in 12 months first appeared on Lanta Animal Welfare.

Lanta Animal Welfare’s mission is to end animal suffering in Thailand. But that does not mean ending suffering only today; it means ending it tomorrow and long into the future.

And that is why capturing young minds is so important to our goal.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Lanta Animal Welfare carried out numerous education and outreach programs in local schools and communities with the aim of encouraging people to think about the long-term care of animals in their environments.

For obvious reasons that program had to be halted during the pandemic, but we are delighted that we have now been able to re-introduce it – new and improved for 2023.

Lanta Animal Welfare’s mobile clinic team makes regular visits to neighbouring islands and areas of the mainland where there is no access to veterinary care and, in the week prior to those mobile clinics, the team will now visit a local school to deliver our revised education program.

The first of those took place last week on the neighbouring island on Lanta Noi. Lanta Animal Welfare’s clinical director, Helen Guy, takes up the story.

“The aim of this education program is to change children’s mentality towards animals and how they care for animals and treat their pets. We also encourage kids to go home and tell their parents about our key message of sterilisation.

“In southern Thailand, there are strong cultural beliefs about dogs so we are trying to change the mindset so the local population has some empathy and compassion towards street dogs.

“The good news is things are changing and improving through our ongoing programs. People are increasingly seeking us out for sterilisation for their pets and alerting us if there are sick and injured dogs.”

The program consists of four separate modules:

* Too many animals: Educating the children about where stray animals come from, and the importance of sterilisation.

* Being a good pet owner: Teaching children that all animals are living beings and have feelings just like us, and teaching them how to take care of cats and dogs.

* Compassion for street animals: Teaching empathy for street animals and reinforcing the message that they also have feelings and needs.

* Dog communication and safety around dogs: Teaching the children about dog body language and what the dog is telling you to help prevent dog bites.

“This was the first educational visit since Covid and we have redesigned the whole project,” Helen adds. “There is no point standing in front of a class of children and telling them, ‘you must do this, you must not do that’. They need to understand and think for themselves.

“This is a far more interactive program, including games and quizzes, so hopefully at the end of it they come away with a better understanding of animal welfare.”

It sounds good in theory, but what about in practice? How did the kids react?

“The noise was horrific,” laughs Helen. “The kids were screaming out their answers.

“It was great to see them enjoying it, being involved and really engaging.”

The post Education, Education, Education first appeared on Lanta Animal Welfare.

Having worked with All For Villages for several years on the island of Koh Payam, Lanta Animal Welfare was delighted to offer its assistance in this new project to benefit the local Moken community.

The Moken are a sea gypsy people who used to live for months and months on the ocean, rarely visiting land, but in more recent times they have been forced to settle on islands in the Andaman Sea on the west coast of Thailand.

The Moken communities are heavily polluted due to the introduction of plastic, and there are often many, many animals roaming around because the people are largely ignored, the government does not visit the regions and there is no support network of any kind.

Many Moken villagers do not even have Thai citizenship so All For Villages has, for many years, been assisting them with basic human necessities such as food, education and health care.

This joint venture is an extension of that fantastic work. Generously funded by All For Villages and the Jan and Oscar Foundation, our team was able to visit recently where we found horrendous living conditions for humans and animals.

Our veterinary team sterilised around 30 dogs on this first visit, as well as numerous cats, and we helped begin the cleanup campaign on the island.

This is just the start, however. There is lots of work still to be done and our plan it to visit the island annually.

Click to learn more about All For Villages.

Click here to learn more about the Jan and Oscar Foundation.

The post LAW joins forces with local charities to help Koh Chang clean-up for animals and humans first appeared on Lanta Animal Welfare.

That is the expert opinion of veterinary professionals all around the world.

Numerous studies have shown that spaying and neutering increase your pet’s life expectancy by one to five years.

It is also the only humane way to control the population of street cats and dogs.

That is why our sterilisation programme is Lanta Animal Welfare’s biggest project.

But we cannot do it alone.

And for that we have to thank our good friends at Welttierschutzgesellschaft (WTG).

WTG has been supporting Lanta Animal Welfare since 2013, and that support has been truly invaluable.

It has allowed us to steriliise and treat thousands of cats and dogs that would otherwise have no access to veterinary care.

Before WTG’s involvement, LAW had no mobile clinic facility. In the past eight years, thanks to their generosity, not only have we been able to introduce those clinics, we have also been able to expand so we now reach nine different areas.

In that time, we have sterilised 14,000 cats and dogs, and also provided rabies vaccinations to each of those animals.

WTG has made that possible.

As well as buying all the equipment and medical supplies, they also sponsor some of our mobile clinic staff and pay the travel, accommodation and subsistence costs for the whole team.

Lanta Animal Welfare cannot thank WTG enough.

With their help, we have been able to change and save the lives of countless animals.

The post Upwardly mobile: How LAW hit the road thanks to WTG first appeared on Lanta Animal Welfare.

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.

The post Life changers: How LAW and Four Paws are ending suffering in Trang first appeared on Lanta Animal Welfare.

That might be a monkey on the roof, a playful puppy escaping his or her area and having a little run around to see what’s going on or, in the case of our veterinary clinic, a wild animal arriving in need of emergency treatment.

That was the case recently when a civet, a wild cat, was brought into the clinic having been hit by a car, leaving him with paralysis in his back legs.

Sightings of civets on Koh Lanta are extremely rare. LAW’s Clinical Director, Helen Guy, had previously seen only two in her five years on the island.

Having in the past treated animals as diverse as fishing cats (a wild version of a Bengal cat), goats, monkeys and monitor lizards, however, nothing really fazes LAW’s medical team.

“The treatment is very similar whether it’s a dog or a cat hit by a car, or a wild animal like a civet,” said Helen. “It involves lots of supportive care.

“He’s receiving steroids to try to help with the inflammation in his nerves, because there is a spinal injury that didn’t show up on the initial X-ray. Not everything always does, and it may be that this takes quite a long time for him to recover.

“He is getting stronger and there are signs of progress, although the fact there is no feeling whatsoever in his tail is not a good sign. He just needs time to see if he can get better.”

Where the treatment does differ, however, is in the handling of the animal. Dealing with a wild cat like a civet is most certainly not the same as dealing with a domestic cat.

“It’s very different,” added Helen. “That’s why he’s in a cage with a cover over it. He doesn’t like being handled so we’re very careful not to cause him any unnecessary stress, because that could kill him.

“At the point he was brought in, he was semi-conscious, and that will be the only reason the lady who brought him to us was able to bundle him into her car because civets are normally quite aggressive.

“We’re very mindful when we clean the cage, we try to move him with a net or a box, so we’re not actually touching him and unsettling him. It’s better and safer for him, and also for us.”

Did You Know?
The world’s most expensive coffee, Kopi luwak, is made from civet poo. Or, to be more precise, it’s made from coffee beans that are partially digested and then pooped out by the civet. The price of Kopi luwak ranges from $35-$100 for a single cup.

If you would like to support the work of our veterinary clinic, please click here to donate

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The post Civet Service: How LAW is trying to get a wild cat back on his feet first appeared on Lanta Animal Welfare.

And happily they didn’t have to look too far, or think too hard, before opting to reunite Nevil with his brother, Sirius.

Here, in Flora’s own words, is the story of their 12 months with Nevil, and what life has been like for the new family of four since Sirius joined them in Vienna a few weeks ago…

“During our backpacking tour through Thailand, my boyfriend and I saw so many animals suffering on the streets.

“As we headed to Koh Lanta, we heard about an animal welfare centre that’s mission is to end animal suffering. We completely changed our schedule and visited Lanta Animal Welfare the next day. Our plan was to make a donation, go for some walks and socialise with the dogs. But not everything went as planned.

“After we completed the tour a volunteer asked us if we were thinking about adoption. To be honest, until that day, we had never seriously talked about it. But in that moment, we looked each other in the eyes and both thought: “Are we thinking about adoption?”

“Shortly afterwards we went socialising with some of the dogs. There was this one dog called Nevil, who immediately came to us and showed us his very best side. He trusted us, gave us the feeling of love and just stole our hearts. As one of the volunteers came by she told us Nevil was one of the ‘Potter Puppies’ (six siblings) and was normally very shy, unlike how he was while with us.

Nevil and Sirius as pups at LAW

“All the dogs we met at LAW deserve a forever home, every one of them is unique and very handsome in their own way. Honestly, we could have picked one blindfolded. But Nevil really was OUR perfect match.

“Nevil has now been living with us for exactly one year and we couldn´t be happier with him. It has been a year full of outdoor adventures, cuddle-sessions and learnings for all of us.

“Nevil always enjoyed the presence of other dogs, those who love playing and chasing around as much as he does are his favourite buds.

“Every time we heard that another ‘Potter Pup’ had been adopted, we followed their stories and also chatted with their new ‘pawrents’. After a while, we saw that Sirius was the only one who hadn’t found a home. We knew he probably would be more nervous and even more shy than Nevil was, but he also wasn’t a puppy anymore so the chances of getting a new home were lower than for younger ones.

“When the dangers surrounding Covid-19 forced the centre to close to visitors, the chances got even lower and we knew: we had to act!

“Sirius never had the chance to show us what a good boy he is, because at the time we visited LAW, he was in quarantine because of ringworm.

“But we knew Nevil was the kind of dog who always wanted a doggie brother in his life, with whom he can play around all the time. And the second, and way more relevant factor, was we had the space and love to adopt Sirius, so we decided to reunite those two cuties.

“The day before Sirius arrived in Vienna we took Nevil to my parents’ place, so Sirius had time to rest and recover from his long journey.

“Unfortunately, he had a really hard time adjusting to his new life.

“Sirius was very anxious: he refused to go on walks, he lay in bed all day and only stood up when he wanted to switch places to go to the couch. We knew we just had to be patient. He definitely needed more time to adjust and we had to wait to see his wonderful personality.

“After five days we got in the car and drove to my parents, so Nevil and Sirius could finally meet again.

“Nevil was soooo excited when he first saw Sirius, but Sirius was really scared and just growled at Nevil. After a few minutes just watching him play, Sirius finally began to romp and play around with Nevil and they had both a lot of fun. We saw his tail wagging for the first time and we couldn’t have been happier.

“After they played for a while, the sun was about to fade, so we started heading home. Sirius went with us and you could tell in Nevil’s eyes that, somehow, he knew he will stay forever.

“Since the two met, Sirius has changed completely. He is so adventurous and wants to explore everything, with Nevil by his side. They have known each other for just a few weeks, but they are already inseparable!

“Yes, the two may be more nervous than other dogs, but they just needed their special someone to show them how beautiful life can be.

“Nevil has changed this year from a shy dog who wouldn’t want anybody to touch him to a wonderful dog everybody loves.

“With Sirius, we see the big steps Nevil made, because he shows the same behavior Nevil did a year ago. But with a bunch of love and training, everything is possible.

“If you have a nervous dog, I would consider adopting a second one. Not only Sirius is an adventure-boy around Nevil, but Nevil has also stopped being afraid of cars, because Sirius taught him so.

“After this journey, there is one thing we definitely know: this was all meant to be.

If you’re thinking of adopting a rescue dog or cat from LAW, click here

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The post Brothers-in-paw: It was meant to be – how Nevil and Sirius met again first appeared on Lanta Animal Welfare.

That is certainly the case for Kelsey Wood, a former volunteer at Lanta Animal Welfare.

One year on from her time on Koh Lanta, she tells us what it’s been like after she returned home from her gap year with a boatload of wonderful memories, and a new furry friend… Lee.

LAW rescued Lee in April 2019, along with his siblings and their mother, who had been shot. Sadly, mum didn’t make it but all the puppies did.

And that was the start of a life-changing journey, for both Lee and Kelsey.

“A year before my visit to LAW I’d seen on Instagram that a friend of mine had volunteered at the centre on their way to Australia,” said Kelsey. “I immediately followed the page and kept up to date with that was going on.

“I am obsessed with animals and travel and the timing was perfect. I applied to be a volunteer and the rest is history.

“I always had the idea in the back of my mind that I would adopt from LAW but, as I was in the middle of a gap year, I wasn’t sure it would be the right time. That was until I met Lee.

“That was it for me. Lee stole my heart from day one. Every time anyone walked passed his area he’d be standing there with a big smile on his face, wagging his tail waiting for cuddles.

“He and I did a lot of training and we had so much fun together. He was such a clever boy.

“I remember the centre manager, Diane, making a video of him to push for his adoption. She showed it to me before she posted it and I decided there and then that he was mine. I ended up extending my time in Thailand and at LAW by a month and adopted my boy.

“Having Lee with me for the past year has been a whirlwind. When he first arrived, he was so nervous of all the strange noises and people. Now, he is such a big character in the family.

“Watching him grow in confidence and break through all his barriers has been so amazing to watch. It has been challenging at times, his personality is different to any dog I’ve had previously, but adopting him is the best decision I’ve ever made. He’s a really special boy.

“To anyone thinking of adopting from LAW, I would say simply… go for it!

“It’s not an easy ride but it will be one of the most rewarding experiences you will have. Just remember, these LAW babies are special and they need their own time to adjust to their new lives. But, once they do, you can look forward to a life filled with love and joy.”

For more details about adopting from LAW, click here 

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The post One year on… life is ‘love-Lee’ for Kelsey and her rescue boy first appeared on Lanta Animal Welfare.

But that’s exactly what LAW’s Clinical Director, Helen Guy, did when little Varagorn was brought to the centre with a very, very nasty injury.

The inspiration came from the treatment on animals that suffered burns during the horrific Australian bushfires earlier this year, with vets Down Under using Tilapia to aid the healing process.

“I had heard about it previously but it’s one of those things you sort of hear about and then it passes you by a little bit, because we hadn’t had a case where we’ve needed to use it,” said Helen. “It was actually Biw, our receptionist, who reminded me of the idea. She looked at the cat and was saying there was more we could do to try to help, and she remembered the fish skin.”

Fortunately, Tilapia is a river fish that can be bought at any local market on Koh Lanta. It’s actually a lot easier to get hold of than many of the medications and treatments our vets need.

The fish skin is placed on top of the wound, and it should attach because of the collagen and everything else in it. The question then was: what next?

“It’s still a fairly new approach,” Helen added. “I’ve not looked into too many case reports. I just had a quick Google to see how to do it.

“The first day it [the fish skin] had attached, and then on day two or three it had started to lift off, but it looked so much better underneath. Not having much experience of these things, I thought, ‘what do we do? Do we manage it as a wound we could now potentially close’? That’s what we did at that point. We decided to go with closure.

“The fish skin definitely improved the condition of the underlying layers [of skin], so then we could suture and it was healthy tissue underneath.

“You could leave the fish skin on and dress around it and it should stay in place, and then I believe it naturally peels off after a while because it dries up. You would still be left with a wound underneath, but it’s a partial thickness.

“But the wound in this case was deeper than I thought when we first removed all the horrible crust and everything. So it was almost like a full thickness burn as opposed to the ones I’ve seen used on humans which were partial thickness burns, so I don’t know if that played a part or not.

“It significantly enhanced the healing process and it’s something I would definitely look to do again, on cats or dogs. It’s dead easy… and fairly cheap!”

And what of the remainder of the Tilapia?

“The Thai staff made Tom Yam soup with it. It was delicious!”

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The post Tipping the scales: How a river fish helped a cat back to health first appeared on Lanta Animal Welfare.

Within just a few weeks, he found himself as part of a skeleton Covid-19 crew, one of just three volunteers who opted to ride out the pandemic in Thailand rather than return to their home country.

The staff and volunteers were split into two teams, working separate six-hour shifts, banned from socialising together, and with handover meetings taking place on either side of a wall, with face masks a constant reminder of the growing Coronavirus threat.

It was anything but normal, as Mark explains…

“Upon arrival at LAW I was very unsure what to expect and what exactly I’d be up against, but as an animal lover I was looking forward to the task ahead.

“After only a few hours of being here I think I fell in love with nearly all the dogs and was excited for what lay ahead.

“Covid-19 clearly changed things, but it can’t change the way I feel about my time at LAW.

“I couldn’t think of a more rewarding experience, every day developing a stronger bond with the animals, along with living in paradise on a Thai island with other like minded people.

“Volunteering was something that had never really crossed my mind, but after a few years of travelling I didn’t feel quite ready to go home, and I wanted to experience something new and exciting.

“I wasn’t sure if I would be well out of my comfort zone, particularly having had no experience working with animals before, but it was another challenge for me and another life experience I wanted to gain.”

Mark also gained something else very special from his time at LAW… a new girl in his life.

By his own admission, he loved all the dogs, but one in particular captured his heart, little Poppy, who arrived at the centre homeless and helpless with her two siblings, and four months later was on her way to a new life in Edinburgh, Scotland.

She is a permanent reminder of Mark’s time in Thailand, and he insists he would not hesitate in one day returning.

“It’s definitely something I hope to do again,” he adds. “I would recommend it to anyone who is considering volunteering at LAW.

“Just do it, you won’t be disappointed… you might even come out of it with a new furry best friend like I did and take them home with you!”

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The post Covid Cupid: How volunteer Mark Jeffries found love at LAW first appeared on Lanta Animal Welfare.