Opinion?

[PeteC]

I was looking for the Opinion section tonight and it is gone...is it here now?

Anyway, I have one.

This is not a criticism of anyone. All of us who move here never know what tomorrow brings.

I think I've seen two or three families now on here advertising to find a home for a pet because they are going home after a relatively short stay of a year or two, or less.

Dawn may boil me on oil for this but my feeling is that it is best to let a puppy pass away as a puppy than to give it a good home and then an unsure future when you depart a year or two later. This is Thailand, pets passed on to other people/places is not the same as finding a good home for them in the West, usually.

I'm not talking birds or fish, but dogs and cats who become totally and completely dependent upon that particular human family.

If one retires here or comes with long term plans, before I would get a pet I would be sure that I could be here for that pet's life span if at all possible. Or, be able to take it back overseas if I left.

Not meant to hurt anyone's feelings, just my personal feelings about the matter. Pete

[DawnHRD]

My opinion, Pete? If you take on a pet, you should be prepared to take it wherever you go unless some specific health or other reason (the animal's, not yours!) why you can't. I took 3 dogs from UK to HK, I took 3 from HK to here (1 was the same, the others died of old age in HK). You shouldn't take on an animal unless you are prepared to look after it for its lifespan.

We've just had a dog dumped on us that someone asked us to take in as a sick dog, as he wanted her. We had her for 10 months, before he could take her. Now, after he has had her for 8 months, he's leaving Thailand so we get the dog. No donation, nothing, just the dog.

I'm glad you raised this, because this is the second time someone on this board has said that a dog deserves more than to be in an "animal shelter". As the manager of the only real shelter in HH, I take great exception to this (the other place, sadly, is not a shelter, it's a pound). All dogs deserve better. But I do the best I can with extremely limited resources & funds & most dogs in our care get better care than they have ever had in their lives.

I had a dog who is quadraplegic dumped in my garden on Monday while I was on a visa run. I came back to find a completely paralysed dog, with an abscess taking up one half of his chest, soaking & filthy just inside my gate. He's now lying on soft towels with a cushion under his head, being turned to avoid bedsores, getting his abscess cleaned & dressed every day (it takes me a minimum of 45 mins to do that one dressing). 2 meals a day, antibiotics & painkillers, incontinence pads changed every couple of hours to stop him lying in his own pee. Yes, I can see how people think their dogs don't deserve my care.

[PeteC]

I don't have a reply Dawn except to say please sit down with some of the other mods or members or friends and get everything out, talked about and dealt with.

I'm happy if my post was an avenue for you to let off steam and frustration, although that was not it's intent or meaning. The intent and meaning was to instill thoughts of responsibility into farang settlers here, or moving here, concerning pets, no more no less and certainly not an editorial about anything else.

Yes, I'm upset that you possibly think that me or any of your other friends on here would attack you. You are dead wrong and that is the end of this subject. Closed. Pete

[DawnHRD]

No, Pete, not you. I didn't mean you. Read the post that gave rise to your OP. The one about the dog needing a new home. It was them that said their dog deserved better than a shelter. I certainly wasn't having a go at you. I agreed with everything you said. Sorry.

[PeteC]

OK, now I feel better. . I misnterpreted your direction, sorry. Pete

[ozuncle]

Pete,
I think it is a world wide problem.

Every xmas we have puppies and kittens given as presents and as soon as the novelty has worn off,many of them are neglected and eventually abandoned or handed to a shelter.
Our organisation here in Perth is always trying to give unwanted animals away however one method of ensuring the recipient is "fair dinkum" is to make them pay for the sterilisation and vaccinations microchips etc.

We have the added advantage over here that it is only healthy animals that are kept in the shelters.

Any very sick or very old animals would be euthanased immediately.
If no one wants an animal after being in stock for about three months it meets the same fate.

I think Thailand is unique in this regard (minimal euthanasia of animals) and it amazes me how much dedication Dawn and her organisation have.

It is an extremely dificult situation for expats who decide to take a dog and care for it for a year or two.

Initially they are angels for caring for the dog, but then they are crucified for not taking it away with them.

Should they have not taken it at all?

[PeteC]

Initially they are angels for caring for the dog, but then they are crucified for not taking it away with them.

Should they have not taken it at all?

That's my feeling concerning your last sentence. I think it's best for a sick pup to go to heaven on the spot rather than be left a few years later to an unknown fate. As I mentioned, this is not the West and how many Thai families has anyone seen adopting dogs and giving them a good home? Some do, but not many. Look how full the Wats are with discarded pets.

I think a family meeting needs to take place and a funding plan put in place to take the animal back home overseas before any adoption here takes place.

Maybe I'm too soft or too tough but I rank pets second only to children. Even my own daughter has commented "Dad, it's only a dog...." I just don't feel that way. Yes, I've done it. I've got an 11 year old tabby living the good life in Hawaii with the Ex. She would never have seen 3 if we left her here in 1998.

Not an easy question Oz. Pete

[Jim]

Pete, Dawn

for goodness sake, you had a good argument starting there...and now you've gone and made friends. That's not the way we do things on here and may set a dangerous precedent.

And especially so on such an emotive topic. No rights nor wrongs, in my view, only one's ability to live one's conscience.

Cheers

Jim

[STEVE G]

Pete wrote:

...this is not the West and how many Thai families has anyone seen adopting dogs and giving them a good home? Some do, but not many.

Pete, you should tell that to my partner, she just called from Issan to tell me that we have just got another puppy because "it's got brown eyes"!

[PeteC]

Pete, you should tell that to my partner, she just called from Issan to tell me that we have just got another puppy because "it's got brown eyes"!

LOL, wait until she finds a litter with blue eyes, you'll have a house full. . I've got one with blue eyes, half Australian heeler, half German pointer, back in Hawaii also with the Ex. Thrown out of a car with his litter mates, he was the only one we could catch, and the only puppy my vet there has ever treated who has survived parvo and is now thriving.

I had a place on the east side of the big island backed up to a large ranch that had cattle. Sure enough, some got through our fence and onto our place. This dog (the heeler side) did just that and herded them back to where they belonged. At the same time he catches birds by sitting under a tree and waiting for them to fly then jumping at them! Super dog to be sure. I miss him like hell but this is not a good place for him. Pete

[DawnHRD]

Pete, Dawn

for goodness sake, you had a good argument starting there...and now you've gone and made friends. That's not the way we do things on here and may set a dangerous precedent.

And especially so on such an emotive topic. No rights nor wrongs, in my view, only one's ability to live one's conscience.

Cheers

Jim

Sorry to disappoint you, Jim, there was no argument. I just didn't express who I was venting at very well, and it certainly wasn't Pete. I agree with him - leaving a pup to take its chances is kinder than getting rid of it later on when you have to move on & it loves you & your family & no-one wants it. By that time it has lost its street smarts & needs humans to survive. And no-one wants adult dogs. I have over 100 healthy, beautiful dogs in the center as testament to that.

BTW all, Steve's partner is a lovely lady - just wish I could persuade them to take some of our dogs! Enough in the village to choose from, I think Thanks for the rice, Steve & Mrs Steve. Much appreciated!

Ozuncle, funnily enough I've just been talking about the euthanasia thing with a couple of other Thailand based doggy orgs. One was advising me, as Pete & perhaps you (someone Australian, anyway) did to euthanise all dogs that weren't adoptable (Paraplegic/behavioural problems etc). The other was saying she completely understood why I couldn't. I'm still prevaricating about the stroke dog. I don't know if I'm going to euthanise him or not. As Jim said, all of this is a matter for individual conscience...