Harper Asprey Wildlife Rescue encouraging through knowledge a natural balance

Trip 279
Care For Dogs Thailand 08/11/10 - 22/11/10
By Hazel Taylor
After an uneventful and shorter than expected journey, Sonia (the vet part of the team) arrived at our destination, Chaing Mai, and were met with a welcoming smile by Amandine, co-founder of Care For Dogs. She then took us to a local Tesco’s (yes, Tesco’s is taking over Thailand too), where we bought water, snacks and other necessaries. Among a few other things I bought some fruit that looked like apples, had the texture of pears and tasted like neither.
We had opted for ‘home stay’ rather than a hotel, and our ‘home’ was about a 5 minute walk from the shelter. We were clearly a bit of a novelty as we walked along the road, but there were plenty of friendly nods, and occasionally people would embark on conversations not realising that we spoke no Thai. We did not stay in our landlady’s house as she had had built a row of 4 guest rooms adjacent to her house. Accommodation was basic but clean and comfortable, and being a bit of a naturalist, I was pleased to find a very pretty small toad in my outside sink and 3 snails climbing up the courtyard wall. There were also up to 8 geckos pouncing on the insects attracted by our lights. Breakfast and dinner were brought by our

landlady or her husband and put on a small table outside our rooms. Sometimes it was a little too hot and spicy for my taste, but extremely plentiful - usually a large bowl of rice with at least 3 meat/vegetable dishes. Both Sonia and I baulked a little at fish and rice for breakfast.

Care for Dogs, our base for the fortnight, was set up by Karin Hawelka and Amandine Lecesne in 2003, next door to Karin’s family home. The shelter houses, at present, around 150-200 dogs, no one seemed sure of the exact figure, most of whom live in a large enclosure as a largely peaceable pack. However, every so often during the day a scuffle would break out. Occasionally more serious fights would erupt, where upon there would be much shouting from staff and volunteers and the fight would subside. Most of the dogs knew, and accepted their place in the pecking order, but there were a few that seemed to spend their day trying to provoke an argument. As well as the main enclosure housing the healthy inhabitants waiting to find homes, there were several smaller enclosures for puppies, those with mange, with TVT (Transmissible Venereal Tumour) and those that for some reason, e.g. blind, that could not join the general mêlée. Also there were pens inside for those needing intensive care.

The operating room was surprisingly modern and clean. Where standards fell somewhat was in the sterilization of instruments and drapes. When we arrived we were told that we would have to soak the surgical kits in pevidine as they were only ’cooked’ on a Tuesday evening, ready for Wednesday, and this was Monday. A local Thai vet, Dr Pan, came in 3 days a week and this was when she did any minor operations necessary. The only way of ’sterilizing’ drapes was to boil then in the rice cooker. This, of course only reached boiling point so was really not adequate. Eventually we got a reasonable system, whereby Karin would cook the instruments each day, and we, having purloined her pressure cooker could sterilize the drapes and any extra instruments with reasonable satisfaction. The pressure cooker was not like one I had ever used before and needed a lot more water, but by the end we had worked it out with the loss of only 1 burnt drape.

 

Although the main purpose of our trip was to spey as many bitches as time and energy allowed, it was not all bitch speys. For example we did several dog castrates, some cat speys and a leg amputation on a cat and a dog. One case that was unusual for us, but not unusual in Thailand, was a dog that had had a TVT on its face. As with almost all TVT, the tumour had been cured with weekly vincristine injections, but it had left a hole in the muzzle and had eaten away a large portion of the hard palette. There was nothing we could do about the hard palette, but as the holes were clean, the best thing seemed to be to close the hole in the muzzle to keep the dust out. There was a lot of scar tissue so this was not easy and we just had to hope that the sutures held. Apart from an occasional sneeze the dog seemed to be coping extremely well despite the fact that the roof of its mouth opened into its nasal cavity.

 

Most of our patients came from temples, or at least I think they did. Care For Dogs staff miraculously produced a new patient whenever we were ready. The monks tend to have a policy of non interference, so as long as the dog is fit and well it is relatively well cared for, but they seem to ignore any illness. One example of this was a rottweiler living at a temple very close to Care For Dogs that Karin persuaded the monks to allow to come to the shelter for treatment. One of its hind paws was bandaged and was found to have a huge ulcerated tumour on the dorsal surface of the paw. The tumour was far too advanced for removal and it appeared the only choice was amputation of the leg. It obviously hadn’t used the leg for a long time as there was great muscle wastage. However, it was soon apparent that the tumour had spread, and the liver consisted mostly of a large tumour. The dog was extremely thin and obviously sick and the only option was PTS, which luckily, the monks consented to.

 

On our first Thursday it was 3 speys and a wedding. The daughter of our landlady was getting married and all the Care For Dogs staff were invited, with, it appeared all friends, family and the surrounding village. This was equivalent to the reception in a western wedding, not the ceremony itself. The bride and groom sat on the floor with both sets of parents behind them and each guest approached on their knees and tied a piece of cotton round the right wrist of both the bride and the groom. Then there was food and karaoke. After an hour or so we returned to the shelter, but the partying continued all afternoon and well into the night.
On our free weekend we took a taxi into Chaing Mai. It is very much geared to tourists - virtually every other shop front advertised the adventures you could go on, the variety of massages you could have and was a guest house or restaurant. We wandered our way to the largest temple there. Like most of the temples it was extremely ornate and astonishingly colourful. We followed others in purchasing, for a donation, a small candle, 4 incense sticks and a flower. Having communed with whatever power we believed in, lit the candles and the incense sticks, we placed them and the flowers with all the other offerings.
In the evening small markets selling scarves/pashminas, bags, carved animals, traditional clothing etc begin to spring up. We wandered round one market and then, wimping out of a full massage just went for a half hour foot massage, which was surprisingly painful

The next morning the same taxi driver picked us up and took us to Meesa Elephant Park. We were a little disappointed it was not the park we were expecting to go to, which was dedicated to elephant conservation, but instead was more of a tourist attraction with an elephant show and painting. However, we rode an elephant and spent a very pleasant day there.

All too soon our fortnight at Care For Dogs came to an end, and, due to the jet stream or something, the journey home was over 2 hours longer than the journey there, and so it was back to England in the grip of record breaking cold and heavy snow. I think I might retire to Thailand.

 

Below is a list of other items we desperately need.

Hospitalizations Cages

We are in need of specialist hospitalizations cages .

 

The cost of these cages range from £386 to £4900 for the units we require. We are currently raising money for these to help our orphans and patients. We have found these cages to be invaluable as they offer the ultimate level in safety and hygiene, which enables us to give our patients the expert care and attention to enable them to recover. These are designed specifically for our needs.

 

If your local Veterinary Practice or research laboratories are furbishing, please let us know as they may be removing and replacing cages that we can use.

 

Cat and Dog Food

We need cat and dog food, it can be dry or wet, any type is just fine.

 

If you have a fussy cat or dog and you keep trying new food and they don't like it, please send the rest of the food to us as our cute patients are not so fussy.

 

One sachet of cat food will feed a baby hedgehog for a day so every little really does help. No donation is too small.

 

Medical Equipment

We are always in need of medical equipment to treat our wildlife and would be grateful for any pre loved items from veterinary surgeries and animals hospitals.

 

We are happy to get expensive machines repaired so if you know of any vets being refurbished ask them if we can have any of their old equipment. This equipment is very expensive but really does improve our level of care.

 

Old Towels

 

We use thousands of old towels each year. If you are having a clear out in your airing cupboard or a colour change in your bathroom, WC or if you are downsizing, clearing out for a relative or if you just hate your towels please let us have them. Many of our angels are injured, hay and straw can get into wounds and irritate them, so towels are just perfect.

Equipment

Crush cage £52.29 Net £29.00 Rabies gloves £68.00 Specialist remote trap £459.00 Standard trap £120.00

Net loop £94.00 Avian net £37.98 Stick holster £83.78 Ultra bite gloves £60.00 Heavy duty gauntlets £170.00

 

Old Mobile Phones

 

 

Do you or your friends keep up to date with the latest mobile phone trends because if you do please send us your old mobile phone so we can change them for cash and then change that into food. You old mobile could help some of our precious orphans who themselves had just had a close call! Send to Harper Asprey Wildlife Rescue, Marlborough House, Augustus Gardens, Camberley, Surrey, GU15 1HL

 

Used Stamps

 

Please send us your old used stamps we can change them into cash. These old and used stamps bring vital funds to our rescue, so if you get good news through the post think of us and save that stamp. You can send or deliver these to us in any amounts. No amount is too small and each stamp is gratefully received. Send to Harper Asprey Wildlife Rescue, Marlborough House, Augustus Gardens, Camberley, Surrey, GU15 1HL

 

 

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This page has been proof read by Sandra