Squatter with 43 stray dogs told to vacate plot in 20 days

[webfact]

Squatter with 43 stray dogs told to vacate plot in 20 days

By The Nation

 

 

A woman who has been taking care of 43 street dogs on a plot of land along a road in Samut Songkram has been told to leave by the owner within 20 days.

 

Suwandee Moongkhamen, 58, said she has no place to go and she could not abandon the dogs as she feels they are her children.

She said she would prefer to die with them rather than leave them behind.

 

The woman has been taking care of street dogs and living on a meager income of Bt1,000 a month from Puang Malai Temple where she works as a toilet cleaner.

 

Earlier, she said the owner of the land, next to the bridge across the Mae Klong river in Samut Songkram’s Mueang district, had allowed her to stay on the plot and some people had helped build a fence to prevent her dogs from being run over by cars.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30322780

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-08-04

[piersbeckett]

Suwandee Moongkhamen - leader of the pack

[jaywalker]

My heart bleeds. Poor doggies.

 

A shovel, plus a couple AR-15 magazines & "Poof!" problem solved.

[Morakot]

No wonder rabies is endemic in Thailand.

[Chris Lawrence]

MY wife's sister has 19 cats. I suggested to sell them as rabbits.

 

But good to hear a person doing a selfless act that must be rich in spirit. The community may support her.

[Morakot]

1 hour ago, Chris Lawrence said:

a person doing a selfless act

Feeding stray animals in urban areas prolongs their suffering, increases cases rabies in the human population, leads to higher chances of children being bitten,  increases noise pollution to local communities, can result in more traffic accidents... Nothing selfless about it.

Edited August 4, 2017 by Morakot

[halloween]

10 minutes ago, Morakot said:

Feeding stray animals in urban areas prolongs their suffering, increases cases rabies in the human population, leads to higher chances of children being bitten,  increases noise pollution to local communities, can result in more traffic accidents... Nothing selfless about it.

The dogs in question don't appear to be suffering. The property is fenced, so no problems with children being bitten or traffic .How she manages to feed 43 dogs is a mystery, given her low income, but I'm quite sure she has no worries about the predators that prey on single women.

Edited August 4, 2017 by halloween

[Morakot]

23 minutes ago, halloween said:

The dogs in question don't appear to be suffering. The property is fenced, so no problems with children being bitten or traffic .How she manages to feed 43 dogs is a mystery, given her low income, but I'm quite sure she has no worries about the predators that prey on single women.

 

Neighbours had to go through the trouble of building a fence, because a squatter deceived to have a large pack of dogs. Sounds quite selfish to me.

 

I guess none of these animals receive proper veterinary care. We can only hope the parasites and ailments of these doges are not as bad as your average Bangkok soi dog.

Edited August 4, 2017 by Morakot

[halloween]

8 minutes ago, Morakot said:

 

Neighbours had to go through the trouble of building a fence, because a squatter deceived to have a large pack of dogs. Sounds quite selfish to me.

 

I guess none of these animals receive proper veterinary care. We can only hope the parasites and ailments of these doges are not as bad as your average Bangkok soi dogs.

Your bias shows clearly when 'some people had helped build a fence' somehow becomes 'Neighbours had to go through the trouble of building a fence'.

How does going without so that you can feed a large number of dogs equate to 'selfish'?

[Cadbury]

2 hours ago, Chris Lawrence said:

sMY wife's sister has 19 cats. I suggested to sell them as rabbits.

 

But good to hear a person doing a selfless act that must be rich in spirit. The community may support her.

Funny you should say that. Cats skun look a lot like a rabbit. I have spent time in Vietnam and eaten cat. Very much like rabbit.

An adjunct to the story. My dog escaped from the yard one day (in Vietnam) and it was eventually found in possession of the local dog thief who was setting himself up to sell it to the nearby dog restaurant. I had to negotiate to buy the dog back at US$3.75/kg. Dog weighed 20 kg so cost me US$75 to get her back. Well worth the money. 

[Morakot]

1 hour ago, halloween said:

Your bias shows clearly when 'some people had helped build a fence' somehow becomes 'Neighbours had to go through the trouble of building a fence'.

How does going without so that you can feed a large number of dogs equate to 'selfish'?

 

Most people who do feed stray animals in this country don't do this with the welfare of the animal in mind. They usually do this  for their own 'spiritual' interest, such as for gaining merit, or believing that at will affect their circumstances of reincarnation, or what not.

 

We don't know much about this specific case, but the person has no adequate means of  running a proper animal sanctuary for 43 dogs, without any veterinary care and adequate birth control.

 

Religious fundamentalist have influenced public option is this country so much that the Rabies Act B.E. 2535 (1992) has become a meaningless piece of legislation. In practice this means for public health officials, veterinaries, and law officers that there are technically no stray dogs; current interpretation is any dog is "owned" that is fed, regardless whether these animals live in public places or on squatted  land. In the early 1990s, public health officials set a target for Thailand to be rabies free by 2000. Until this day this is nowhere in sight... The living conditions and overall health of stray dogs in Thailand is usually horrendous, precisely because adequate animal control is resisted through ill-founded beliefs coupled with religious fundamentalism.

Edited August 4, 2017 by Morakot

[Morakot]

29 minutes ago, Cadbury said:

A beautiful animal. Looks gorgeous.

[1FinickyOne]

1 hour ago, halloween said:

The dogs in question don't appear to be suffering. The property is fenced, so no problems with children being bitten or traffic .How she manages to feed 43 dogs is a mystery, given her low income, but I'm quite sure she has no worries about the predators that prey on single women.

Hi Hall - most likely she gets the extra food gathered by the monks at the temple... 

[anon4546543]

5 hours ago, Morakot said:

Feeding stray animals in urban areas prolongs their suffering, increases cases rabies in the human population, leads to higher chances of children being bitten,  increases noise pollution to local communities, can result in more traffic accidents... Nothing selfless about it.

I live in the boonies. Feral dogs and cats are a huge problem. Suggestions please

[barrywhite]

8 minutes ago, spiderorchid said:

I live in the boonies. Feral dogs and cats are a huge problem. Suggestions please

I can but it's not legal

[anon4546543]

As the Yorkies would say. Ooh Aye.  Sigh

[nausea]

Publically funded spaying and neutering is the answer. There are some voluntary organisations engaged in this solution, but they rely on public donations, and the scale of the problem is just too huge -  

 

"More than 68,000 puppies alone are born annually on the streets of Thailand." (Roger Lohanan, SPCA, Thailand, 2011).

 

As an aside, and as an animal lover, I find his further quoted commments rather disturbing (if true) - 

 

"In 1999, the municipal government killed more than 50,000 stray dogs. These dogs are put to death in a terrible manner. The authorities prefer to poison the dogs they capture because it is cheaper and takes less time than putting the animals down in a more humane manner. Sometimes they will even neglect to feed captive strays in hopes that the animals will starve to death before they are scheduled to die by poison."

 

Don't know what to make of this 2011 quote, to be honest. First I've heard of any such action being taken. I thought Thais didn't engage in animal euthenasia (Buddhist principles and all that), not that you could call this "euthenasia", which means "good death".

 

[tonray]

This kind of thing is very common in Thailand. Just next door to the Talat Phlu BTS station was a hovel occupied by a seemingly healthy 60ish Thai man. This is right on Ratchadapisek road across from the Mall Thaphra. This shack of corrugated metal was additionally occupied by about 6 dogs (all looking like siblings) and hundreds if not thousands of rats that would scurry around when it rained to prevent being drowned in this festering mess. For the past 6 months, a new condo is being constructed about 100 meters away. Walking past this hovel you often had to hold your breath because the stench was so bad of urine and God knows what else.

 

About 2 weeks ago, I noticed that finally the whole mess had been taken down. You could still see the rats scurrying around looking for shelter and the dogs now laying out on the sidewalk looking very confused. They have begun the process of cleanup and grading the spot, my guess would be that the land will get a 7-11 or some other convenience store / coffee shop as it is prime real estate next to BTS and new Condo construction.

 

The question comes to mind though as to how this can be allowed to exist for so long ? I have lived here for 2 years and my guess is that this place had been like this for many more. I once saw what looked to be a very well dressed Chinese/Thai businessman (likely connected in the neighborhood) speaking with the resident who seemed to be a very fit man of about 60 who would leave by bike everyday for supplies and return in the evening. 

 

It could have been that this guy owned the property or that the neighborhood headman for whatever reason would not allow the demolition until he got his best deal.

 

I am just happy it is gone and I can walk by without holding my breath.

[Kabula]

Squatting is good way to be able to afford feeding the dogs. 555

[amvet]

16 hours ago, Morakot said:

No wonder rabies is endemic in Thailand.

4 people died of rabies in Thailand in 2012.  Is that endemic?  Thirty-four cases of human rabies have been diagnosed in the United States since 2003.

[jaywalker]

3 minutes ago, amvet said:

4 people died of rabies in Thailand in 2012.  Is that endemic?  Thirty-four cases of human rabies have been diagnosed in the United States since 2003.

I counted no less than 57 stray dogs on my way to 7-11 this morning....about 1 kilometer/half a mile away.

 

Tough to count the buggers as you drive. I normally have all my radar out for psycho motorcycles, but it was early & not much traffic.

Edited August 5, 2017 by jaywalker

[steven100]

2 minutes ago, jaywalker said:

I counted no less than 57 stray dogs on my way to 7-11 this morning....about 1 kilometer/half a mile away.

poison the lot. It will make the streets much safer for kids and the elderly.

Edited August 5, 2017 by steven100

[amvet]

1 minute ago, jaywalker said:

I counted no less than 57 stray dogs on my way to 7-11 this morning....about 1 kilometer/half a mile away.

How many had rabies?  The reason I ask is if they did have rabies certainly they should be removed. 

[jaywalker]

1 minute ago, steven100 said:

poison the lot. It will make the streets much safer for kids and the elderly.

Amen Brother.

 

I actually LOVE a good dog! Mutt has to play ball at least though maybe catch varmints, be playful, loving/fun to be around, otherwise what is their purpose?

 

Stink & carry disease & yap & keep me up all night.

[steven100]

Just now, jaywalker said:

Amen Brother.

 

I actually LOVE a good dog! Mutt has to play ball at least though maybe catch varmints, be playful, loving/fun to be around, otherwise what is their purpose?

 

Stink & carry disease & yap & keep me up all night.

agree ...  you always love your own fun, clean and playful dog ....  but these are vermin.

[jaywalker]

15 minutes ago, amvet said:

How many had rabies?  The reason I ask is if they did have rabies certainly they should be removed. 

Never said they had rabies.

 

Just 57 dogs starving & most likely had heart worms.

 

They get heart worms from mosquitoes. If you keep a dog inside at night, then they probably will not bitten so much (my mutt stays inside at night). She also gets a monthly worm pill.

 

Hell, they even cull elephants in Africa for the benefit of humans. Why? We have thumbs and brains I guess.

Edited August 5, 2017 by jaywalker

[jaywalker]

8 minutes ago, steven100 said:

agree ...  you always love your own fun, clean and playful dog ....  but these are vermin.

She's a stone-cold killer...If you are a squirrel.

 

 

[steven100]

Just now, jaywalker said:

She's a stone-cold killer...If you are a squirrel.

 

 

lol ...  my sister has one the same ... sam ...  very friendly and a good dog.

[amvet]

20 minutes ago, steven100 said:

agree ...  you always love your own fun, clean and playful dog ....  but these are vermin.

The vermin are the folks who keep have hi so dogs instead of adopting street dogs and neutering them thereby reducing the population.  My street dog that I adopted as a pup is clean, fun and as playful as your hi so dogs and I have helped Thailand by taking her off the street and making sure she does not reproduce. 

 

I am helping Thailand to control rabies and taking dangerous dogs off the street.  Do your part too.  Adopt a street dog. 

Edited August 5, 2017 by amvet
moral

[jaywalker]

2 minutes ago, steven100 said:

lol ...  my sister has one the same ... sam ...  very friendly and a good dog.

That pic was last March. She's had her annual a haircut now for the summer (in the USA). Stupid mutt refuses to be more than 10 feet away from me.

 

She loves me for some reason? Got two other dogs & they will never be as cool as this one (Lolly)

 

Nothing at all wrong with loving a mutt.

 

It has gotten to the point in Thailand though, where drastic measures need to be taken.

 

General P needs to roll out some WW2 tanks throw canister/grape shot rounds at them.....It's LUDICROUS!