Helping dogs beat the heat at Tiger Cave Temple
It is extremely hot in Thailand this time of year and while they say this every year and I don't really believe it, they say that it is hotter than normal. It's just really hot and if "normal" is not hot then it has never been that way here this time of year.
Dogs get affected by heat waves just as much as we do and there isn't a great deal that we can do for the homeless dogs except to go by the areas that we monitor and make sure they have places in the shade.
At Tiger Cave Temple there is plenty of shade thanks to all the untouched nature but there is a certain tribalism that exists in this rather large complex and as silly as it sounds, some of the dogs are afraid to go into the natural areas with the trees because of either the monkeys or the other dogs that keep this area as their own.
I only asked a veterinarian if this would be ok, I have no idea what the western notions of whether this is safe or not would be but please understand that we never do anything that we suspect would hurt these dogs. This time around we helped them to beat the heat by giving them frozen cuts of meat, some of which has bones in it. It was by the vets recommendation that we did this. I don't know if there is any truth to this helping them cool off, but the dogs certainly seemed to enjoy it.
We just meet them over in the shade and hand out enough snacks so that everyone has some and then leave them to it. They spend ages getting to work on a cold piece of meat and whether or not this cools them down is anyone's guess, but they sure do enjoy it!
This temple complex is one of the most popular in Thailand and by sheer land mass it is also one of the largest. It is very popular with tourists and there are hundreds of visitors each day. Believe it or not this is actually beneficial for the dogs because they are accustomed to having humans around. Therefore, if the day comes when we can find them someone to adopt them for a forever home, they are already accustomed to being handled by people - which is good since some of the more rural dogs that we look over have an ingrained fear of humans that I don't think we can change at this point.
The fastest way to a dog's heart is via their stomach and these dogs recognize the sound of my truck as I am approaching and it always kind of makes me smile when I pull up and there are around a dozen dogs with their tails wagging, waiting to greet me. With well over 100 dogs calling this place home the project hasn't been easy, but it has been successful thus far.
All of the dogs are relatively healthy and there hasn't been any new additions, thankfully. Now we just encourage the monks to make sure there is plenty of water during these hot months so that the dogs don't overheat.
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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