Soi Dog regrets Wat Suan Kaew's refusal to renew MoU

[webfact]

Soi Dog regrets Wat Suan Kaew's refusal to renew MoU
The Nation


New dog shelter after Soi Dog stepped in to help Wat Suan Kaew.

BANGKOK: -- Soi Dog Foundation, Thailand's leading animal welfare charity, has expressed regret that Wat Suan Kaew has refused to renew a memorandum of understanding with the foundation, prompting its on-going works to help dogs and cats at the temple to be terminated.

Martin Turner, Soi Dog's marketing manager, said the temple did not give any reason for declining to sign a new MoU when the previous agreement expired in March.

John Dalley, co-founder and vice president of Soi Dog, said in a press statement that Soi Doi has spent Bt3.4 million to carry out renovation work to improve the living conditions of the cats and dogs at temple.

"As a result of Soi Dog's work, the conditions at the shelter today are far better than they were one year ago. While hundreds of cats and dogs formerly lived in small cages, none now live in such conditions. Cats have been separated from dogs, and now live in large purpose-built cat houses. Furthermore, moving dogs into their new runs has substantially decreased the number of animals who live in the large open area in the middle of the shelter, which has reduced dog fights and the spread of disease," the statement said.

"However, major improvements still need to be made, and the shelter remains highly under-staffed, with just two people looking after more than 1,000 animals. Wat Suan Kaew terminated its agreement with Soi Dog for continued works at the facility in March. Soi Dog remains open to renewing the memorandum of understanding, and is hopeful that in the future an agreement can be reached for works to continue so as to further improve the conditions at the shelter, and further enhance the quality of life of the animals housed there."

The animal shelter at Wat Suan Kaew was built in 2003 in response to a government plan to cull street dogs and cats in advance of the Asia-Pacific Cooperation summit in Bangkok that year. The government was persuaded to allow the temple to house the street dogs and cats at the Wat Suan Kaew shelter. Unfortunately what followed was the systematic dumping of pet dogs and cats by owners who no longer wanted them. Very soon, a shelter designed for 400 animals was housing more than 1,000 dogs and 500 cats. Living conditions deteriorated, and the condition of the actual buildings deteriorated as well, exacerbated by damage caused during the 2011 Bangkok floods.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Soi-Dog-regrets-Wat-Suan-Kaews-refusal-to-renew-Mo-30258506.html

-- The Nation 2015-04-22

[robblok]

Does that mean all money spend on the shelter in the temple is now lost, because they cant work there anymore. Would be stupid of the Soi Dog foundation not to see something like that coming. Acquiring some own land and shelter would have been better now they (if my assumption is correct) squandered money of the people who donated money.

[Somtamnication]

Does that mean all money spend on the shelter in the temple is now lost, because they cant work there anymore. Would be stupid of the Soi Dog foundation not to see something like that coming. Acquiring some own land and shelter would have been better now they (if my assumption is correct) squandered money of the people who donated money.

No, it's called blackmail. They want more money. They are a temple, remember?

[Always18]

The true meaning of the word "charity", in whichever grammatical form it is used, seems to be lost in this supposedly Bhuddist nation.............

[NickJ]

Charity doesnt exist....Merit making does. So you get something back......sad.

[butch333]

well well well , special interpretation of the boudhism here . anyway , where is the problem with those millions dogs in the streets everywhere in thailand ? oh , they like dogs to much but are not ready to spend some bath to take care them , never clean never give taperate and for sure not pay for sterilisation . beter to let them <deleted> everywhere and give born to pupies 2 times a year , so funny pupies dog no ?? about the kennel , i go take a look , it's crazy , dogs are so dirty , have sick skin , not to much room to sleep , and thousand stay together . and stay so much outside of the kennel . hold them in a kennel just for that , beter to kill them . and first sterilise the femelle everywhere in thailand please .

they bit when you drive motorbike , they stole in the garbages and put shit everywhere on the roads , most of them sick are full of pest . it's crazy . to much dogs is to much .

[annabel]

Charity doesnt exist....Merit making does. So you get something back......sad.

And that is why I am getting more and more sick of temples and BS monks as well as all other religious BS promotion that goes on in the world..... Ughhh! Just be a good loving human being that loves nature and what it is offering and giving us !!

[mikebell]

After eradicating commercial corruption, I think the General should start to clean up the Thai version of Buddhism. Hardly a week goes by without an unpleasant story about a drunken monk/a monk slapping a farang/ laundering money/sexual abuse/tiger exploitation etc. How can temples drip gold amidst so much poverty? How can Wats ask money from villagers for consulting a book of numbers for auspicious days? How can so much money be amassed yet there be no control over how it is spent?

[Whale]

Yet another piece of one sided "journalism". I would have thought that even a trainee hack would seek a quote or opinion from the "other side" or insert "the temple when contacted had no comment..." or a quote.

For all we know the temple may have bona fide issues with the terms of the MOU.

[BSJ]

My daughter-in-law runs an event in Melbourne every year to raise money for the Soi Dog Foundation. She won't be happy to hear this!

[geriatrickid]

Does that mean all money spend on the shelter in the temple is now lost, because they cant work there anymore. Would be stupid of the Soi Dog foundation not to see something like that coming. Acquiring some own land and shelter would have been better now they (if my assumption is correct) squandered money of the people who donated money.

Soi Dog was confronted with horrific conditions at the wat. Had they not spent the money, the situation would have deteriorated. When I say horrific, that is a mild term. You have to see the reports and photos from that place of pain, terror and fear to appreciate the condition the wat was in. By providing support and facilities, Soi Dog was able stop some of the worst conditions. The Thai and foreign workers and donors were brilliant in their response, especially when one considers that the level of disease, injury and suffering within the animal population was worse than anyone would have imagined. Soi Dog tried to work with the community and a wat where intentions were good, but where ignorance and incompetence reigned supreme.

The real culprit is the absolute selfishness and irresponsibility of many people in Thailand. Add in the refusal of people to support spay and neuter programs and to allow euthanasia and you have a feral domestic animal crisis. Thaialand's treatment of domestic animals, like most of Asia is cruel, evil and plain wrong.

If you have concerns, please contact Soi Dog and you will receive an explanation. Better yet, I encourage you to visit one of their locations and to learn of their activities.

[dragonfly94]

it's the soi dogs that need terminating not the understanding

[Ulic]

I am sure the Soi Dog foundation does excellent work under difficult circumstances. Spaying and

neutering dogs and cats should be promoted by the government. Not a charity I personally support

but I know many do. I am sure they will continue to do good work despite not having an MOU.

[dragonfly94]

The only way to even start to get on top of the dog problem is mass culling, spaying is too expensive and impractical on hundreds of thousands of dogs, killing is the answer. Before anyone gets the hankies out hundreds of thousands of animals are killed for meat, they don't even shit in your street, bark, are a traffic hazzard or spread disease. Spaying a dog then letting it loose again is just tinkering with the problem, not a solution.

[annabel]

it's the soi dogs that need terminating not the understanding

Yet another great human on our planet.... and part of the ones who need to be terminated ....

[annabel]

The only way to even start to get on top of the dog problem is mass culling, spaying is too expensive and impractical on hundreds of thousands of dogs, killing is the answer. Before anyone gets the hankies out hundreds of thousands of animals are killed for meat, they don't even shit in your street, bark, are a traffic hazzard or spread disease. Spaying a dog then letting it loose again is just tinkering with the problem, not a solution.

And yes the hundred of thousands of animals that are killed for food in our day & age is what is even more sickening in the way they are kept and killed. USA id about to cull over 5 million chickens because of yet another Bird Flu Epidemic.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/04/21/iowa-bird-flu-outbreak/26113911/

And I am sure that the conditions in this wonderful place are glorious and give us the best of the best eggs and chickens to eat... Pfff!

Because of avian influenza, the state's $2 billion commercial egg-laying industry has been on high alert this spring. Iowa, the nation's largest egg producer, has about 50 million hens and supplies nearly 1 in every 5 eggs consumed in the United States.

Can you picture the above ??? And what you are eating everyday ? And you are concerned about Soi Dogs ...

So no! they don't shit in our streets, bark, are a traffic hazzard or spread disease....

Don't spread disease huh?? Guess you kinda live in the dark.... I have never contacted any disease from any of the very many dogs I have saved but from eggs, chickens, beef , pork etc from these humongous disgusting farms I have had many malaises / food poisoning / stomach issues ... Oye! Anyway ....

[tifino]

somebody tossed a temple coin.

Tigers or Soi Dogs

dogs lose

[dragonfly94]

it's the soi dogs that need terminating not the understanding

Yet another great human on our planet.... and part of the ones who need to be terminated ....

I am against animal cruelty and have not eaten meat or fish for over 40 years. However, I am not a sentimentalist, where there is a problem ie rats, snakes and cockroaches they need to be killed. Soi dogs are no better than vermin and a very few being spayed is unfortunately not the answer at all.

[pedro01]

The only way to even start to get on top of the dog problem is mass culling, spaying is too expensive and impractical on hundreds of thousands of dogs, killing is the answer. Before anyone gets the hankies out hundreds of thousands of animals are killed for meat, they don't even shit in your street, bark, are a traffic hazzard or spread disease. Spaying a dog then letting it loose again is just tinkering with the problem, not a solution.

Agreed - rabies is a big problem here too.

[dragonfly94]

My mrs got savaged by one a few weeks ago, had bitten 5 other people so a lot of time at hospital for jabs.

[rametindallas]

it's the soi dogs that need terminating not the understanding

Yet another great human on our planet.... and part of the ones who need to be terminated ....

... and part of the ones who need to be terminated

And your statement makes you different from dragonfly94, how? Only difference is you want to terminate humans. You suck.

[rametindallas]

My mrs got savaged by one a few weeks ago, had bitten 5 other people so a lot of time at hospital for jabs.

I, myself, was bitten at Wat Thepsirin about five years ago. I now carry a walking stick on my soi just to keep the aggressive ones at bay.

[Kaalle]

Good, abandon the project all together and start taking care of humans. When all children are fed and dressed and healthy you can move on to grown men and women and after that, if you have money and resources and energy left, by all means start pampering flea ridden vermin.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Kaalle