King visits dog shelter in Hua Hin

[webfact]

King visits dog shelter in Hua Hin



HUA HIN: -- His Majesty the King on Thursday (Feb 13) visited Hua Hin Dog Shelter in Hua Hin District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, to follow up the progress of the center’s work in assisting abandoned dogs and providing a full-cycle management of the stray dog problem in Hua Hin.

Hua Hin Dog Shelter was initiated by the King in 2003 when he took up residence at Klai Kangwon Palace and noticed the problem of stray dogs in Hua Hin area.

The King later provided a fund raised from sales of T-shirts bearing the photo of His Majesty’s favorite dog “Khun Thongdaeng”, for the building of the dog shelter on a 20-rai plot of land allocated by Wat Khao Itikukhato.

Apart from financial support for the construction of the center, His Majesty also granted a sum of money to establish a foundation to run Hua Hin Dog Shelter.

His Majesty has constantly contributed to the fund with the latest portion made on February 7, this year. The center currently has well-trained veterinarians offering various medical services such as vaccination, neutering of female dogs and treatment for the injured. It has records on the history and developments of all dogs under its care for efficient control and treatment.

During the visit, the King toured inside the center, observing its activities such as physical rehabilitation to treat canine Osteoarthritis through exercise and water therapy. The center currently has the capacity to take care of 812 dogs and has selected 47 healthy puppies and fully grown dogs with good behavior for prospective owners to bring them home.

He also fed food to dogs and observed the vehicle to receive dog’s blood, belonging to the Veterinary Hospital of Kasetsart University Hua Hin Campus.

The hospital expects to receive 400 bags of blood donations for use in one year. His Majesty then visited the statue of Khun Thongdaeng and anointed the plate of history of his favorite pet dog.

Thongdaeng was born in November 1998 to a stray mother in a street near the royal medical development center in วังทองหลางdistrict, Bangkok. His Majesty has praised Thongdaeng as a humble and grateful dog which always shows respect to its owner.

The King also observed other activities outside the Shelter’s building such as biogas production from dog excrement and shops selling dog-related souvenirs and products for pet animals. Proceeds from the sales go to support the center, in addition to public donations and the municipality’s budget.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/king-visits-dog-shelter-hua-hin/


-- Thai PBS 2014-02-14

[terryp]

far too many dogs just roaming the streets in thailand ..when driving it is so dangerous as packs often run across roads.....they need to be chpped and steralized ..no chip sadly put down as they are homeless. Thailand needs to get serious on this its ridicules

[tx22cb]

far too many dogs just roaming the streets in thailand ..when driving it is so dangerous as packs often run across roads.....they need to be chpped and steralized ..no chip sadly put down as they are homeless. Thailand needs to get serious on this its ridicules

Micro-chips are relatively expensive and there are very few scanners in TH.

A simple collar and tag with phone number would be more appropriate here.

Our dog has 2 tags -a HomeAgain Pet Recovery Service tag (OK for the US, but pretty useless in TH) and another tag with our mobile phone numbers.

[brucegoniners]

One thing I've always loved about the King is his affection for dogs.

We need many such shelters here in Bangkok, where the poor street dogs are struggling to survive and many get hit by cars.

I'd love to see this kind of effort in the capitol.

[circusman]

A nice, heart warming story, until the posters get nasty and complain endlessly about Thailand.

[mogy]

A nice, heart warming story, until the posters get nasty and complain endlessly about Thailand.

Agree. It's a wonder anyone lives here since the place is apparently such a hell hole

[harrry]

It is nice to see him looking happy and well . A little like some time ago. I hope it lasts

[phuketsurfer]

The free and happy ownerless dogs is one of thailand's high points...I like it. If you don't like dogs go move somewhere else. They bark and nip a bit but they are fun to have around. woof woof.

I love all of those Photos of the King with his dogs. They are great. He is a really nice guy.

[wolfmanjack]

I agree. Glad to see he is out of the hospital and going out to enjoy things he loves.

[Torrens54]

This is a classic example of why the people of Thailand and others who are fortunate enough to live in the Kingdom, have so much respect for His Majesty.

Long Live The King of Thailand!

[bangon04]

Neutering the females is a big step towards managing the problem, but surely neutering the males would be an even better step towards safe streets??

[robertthebruce]

Well done, he does like his Dogs..which is great, and he is looking welll again...

All these stray dogs, is quite upsetting to see....

[Keesters]

One thing I've always loved about the King is his affection for dogs.

We need many such shelters here in Bangkok, where the poor street dogs are struggling to survive and many get hit by cars.

I'd love to see this kind of effort in the capitol.

Not JUST Bangkok, EVERY major city in Thailand.

[utkb]

I have a house in a small "gated" Hua Hin community. At one point there were 17 dogs running around. We kept complaining to the community manager to do something, but it wasn't until one of the dogs snipped at a toddler living in the community that they rounded up all but 3 of the dogs.

No idea what they did with them, but the problem isn't with the individual dogs, its when something snaps and they act as a group.

Its still a bit of a problem to walk around the community, since I'm not there regularly, the current group of dogs don't recognize me and bark alot

[Keesters]

far too many dogs just roaming the streets in thailand ..when driving it is so dangerous as packs often run across roads.....they need to be chpped and steralized ..no chip sadly put down as they are homeless. Thailand needs to get serious on this its ridicules

Micro-chips are relatively expensive and there are very few scanners in TH.

A simple collar and tag with phone number would be more appropriate here.

Our dog has 2 tags -a HomeAgain Pet Recovery Service tag (OK for the US, but pretty useless in TH) and another tag with our mobile phone numbers.

Why tag or chip your dog? It should either be behind a closed gate on your property or when out leashed and with its owner.

[ghworker2010]

Respect to the man himself. His positive influence and attitude towards animals is good for the poor old soi dog. I love seeing the thai people be nice to the dogs. I hate reading about farang being cruel / running over dogs and killing them. I have read such stories many times on this forum and its simply NOT RIGHT

[meatboy]

Well done, he does like his Dogs..which is great, and he is looking welll again...

All these stray dogs, is quite upsetting to see....

I cant help being moved by his affection for dogs you could see how much he loves them,if you've never read the book

thong daeng the kings beloved and loyal friend its well worth it.

long may you live your majesty.

[dotx]

Unfortunately, this shelter is a complete mess. I'm sure they cleaned it up for his visit, but if you stop by at any other time of the year, the conditions are deplorable. They have hundreds of dogs together in large enclosures, where they are free to get into fights and basically mauled each other without supervision. People dump puppies on the grounds of the shelter all the time, and they aren't even picked up and brought inside.

The area is huge, but all dogs are piled up together in a few fenced enclosures, while the rest of the space is just wasted. I've been there a few times and the "pool" (which is indoors, in an all-glass room) has always been full of green, murky water. Obviously it's not being used at all.

Those nice-looking cages in the photo are near the entrance and hold the cuter dogs, which I guess are more adoptable. Maybe 30-40 of them. The other 800 dogs live in the back, in the enclosures I mentioned. And let me point out the cages do NOT usually look that clean.

I'm sure the king has a lot of love for this project, but the people who actually live in HH and run it are not doing a great job. It's a shame, really, because it sounds like he invested a lot of time, money and love on this. It would have been interesting to see how different it looked just for the king.

Edited February 17, 2014 by dotx

[Cloggie]

Sounds like most things over here in Thailand - only during the opening it looks nice, visit the place one year later and you will see it is a complete mess (lack of maintenance)