Back to the Tiger Cave to feed the dogs and cats!
We have a partnership with monks at many temples in the Krabi region and we are very grateful that they will take on the duty of feeding the loads of dogs and cats that live there. We just provide them with the food. On weekends or at least once a week we still turn up to make sure that the dogs are not having medical issues and at least for me, it is because I really enjoy visiting the dogs and keeping them familiar with who I am.
I think that most of them do remember me because I barely get in the parking lot with my truck before a bunch of them come running with their tails waggin. They remember the guy that always turns up with snacks.
Some of them are more familiar than others and I have to admit that it hurts my feelings a little bit when one of them is stand-offish even though I have a delicious treat for them. Oh well, many of these dogs have had pretty tough lives and are still a bit stand-offish when it comes to humans... especially the ones that we suspect have been abused by humans when they were young and it is going to take some time before they can build up a level of trust.
In these situations it is all about 'baby steps." I just put the snack down and then leave a safe distance between me and the animal and hopefully over time they will realize that I am not there to hurt them.
Other dogs on the same property swarm for food to the point where it becomes necessary to simply pour a bunch of food on the ground and let them have at it.
For most of these dogs they don't really care where the food is placed and since we come with so much of it there is rarely any competition for the nibbles. This is a good thing because it suggests that the animals are well-fed enough that a food designation hierarchy hasn't been developed in the pack. It can become quite problematic and difficult to correct if one of these paradigms does arise.
Other dogs are very shy eaters and will not swarm with the pack in order to get food. We have to take special precautions with these guys and girls. The good news is that every one of the dogs seems to be a good weight and in reasonable health. This, after all, is our ultimate objective when dealing with temple dogs. Since they are quite unlikely to be adopted, we just try to ensure that their lives are as comfortable and pain-free as possible.
The amount of change we have seen in the quality of life for these dogs in the controlled environment of the temples is immense and that is the reason why we have been focusing on these places for many years now. We will continue this work until we are unable to physically or financially and hopefully if that time ever comes, there will be someone else that is already there ready to pick up where we left off.
If you would like to see how you can help out or simply spread the word, please visit our website at
http://krabianimalwelfare.org
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