The Population of Thailand's Dogs are Depressed

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The Population of Thailand’s Dogs are Depressed.

One of them is dying on the doorstep. One of them is rabid and foaming at the mouth, one of them scares the shit out of me and keeps trying to steal food. One of them looks like a cross between a scarecrow and a mule and most of them are bleeding, wounded or demented.

Then there are the pets…there seems to be no distinction between the animals chosen to be pets or those that run free as “village dogs”. Qun Dam, Pee Kop’s little black pup and “Biak” a retriever type mutt that is a stupid as a shoe horn seem to be well cared for, bathed on occasion and even fed the leftovers. While a nearly identical retriever pup is literally beaten off with a stick if it comes near the food stores or washing area in search of soggy scraps.

The Lonely Planet Guidebook states, “individuals, especially children, must be warned not to play with animals as rabies is relatively common.” Ah. Awesome.

The barking at night is the most obnoxious thing to have to deal with. That and the crawing of the roosters at specific points in the middle of the night.

I send my rainy day nights guarding the front and back porches from the wet, miserable creatures that try to find shelter on my porches…no thanks. Keep your fleas and foam and pack it! I feel pretty sorry for them at times.

Brittany was in tears the other day as we watched a previously loved dog named Napi dying in the street. It has been sick for a week or so now and cannot stand anymore for long periods. It wavers and shakes incessantly and its breathing is horribly deep and wheezy. I didn’t see it today, but Pee Gwang assures us when the dog is going to die it will take off for the woods to do so.

Ick.

The other dogs in the village are horrible. Period, just horrible creatures and half look like something from the Pet Cemetary cast, others like a cross between the most messed up animals you can imagine. Some of the more endearing traits include teets nearly to the ground after suckling uncountable amounts of pups, both the mother’s own and any others nearby, scaly patched of furless skin, wrinkled excess skin piled up just in front of the tail, lopsided or missing eyes, numerous open wounds, some seeping, swollen or stretched labia (from obvious reasons), vampiric sounding howls and the near obliviousness to vehicle-dog contact. The rest of the population has a general aura of depression. It’s quite horrible.

Yet, some markets sell pure bred, American recognized breeds! You can buy a Jack Russel pup here for about 6000 baht, or a miniature poodle for 2000 baht.

It’s just insane.
Another amusing phenomenon is the mystery of the missing flip flops. It seems to be a subtle game played here, that one can just move or take things as needed. Not that it’s a bad thing that the shoes are used by everyone….really they are just a necessity. That reality illustrates the selfish perspective we grant towards “our” things in the west.

I could never dream of allowing my “favorite” shoes to be borrowed by a neighbor or passerby to go to the market or elsewhere in! Regardless, the amusing part of this novelty is when you are a late riser and there are no matching pairs left to wear!!!!

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