Soi Dog carried out GDP annual vaccination
As life in Phuket slows to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic, Soi Dog Foundation’s vital work to help the island’s vulnerable street animals continues.
This week, co-founder John Dalley and teams of veterinarians and rescue officers visited the government dog pound in Thalang to carry out annual vaccinations of the 800 animals housed there. Vaccinations not only stem the spread of disease and therefore suffering within the pound but, with the animals fit and healthy, it also increases their chances of being adopted.
The dogs were vaccinated against six diseases, including rabies, canine distemper and parvovirus. Their fur was then marked with a safe, soluble spray paint. With up to 147 dogs in a single run, “tagging” them with spray helped the veterinary team ensure that every dog was vaccinated. Rescue officers were also on hand with nets to humanely catch the more shy or evasive dogs so they could safely receive their injection.
While Soi Dog does not agree with the pound, we do feel an obligation to help the dogs who reside there. In addition to annual vaccinations, we dispense bravecto twice a year to prevent flea and tick infestations and perform an average of 30 sterilisations on new intake dogs every month. A veterinary team visits on a weekly basis to provide treatment to animals in need, transporting around 20 dogs a month to our hospital in Mai Khao in cases of sickness and injury.
Help also comes in the form of donations. In 2018, Soi Dog donated THB 560,000 towards rebuilding the pound’s quarantine area and installing a new high-tech water filtration system.
This week also saw Soi Dog make the difficult decision to close its sanctuary doors to visitors and volunteers indefinitely in order to support community efforts to stem the spread of Covid-19 within Thailand. With necessary safety measures in place, work at the sanctuary and hospitals continues to care for the dogs and cats in runs and in treatment. Our rescue and community outreach programmes provided for those in need also carry on.
However, Soi Dog is operating under difficult circumstances, and we are appealing for help. With current travel restrictions preventing adopted animals from flying overseas to their forever homes, and new animals in need arriving every day, we are close to overcrowding. To cope, we must increase our food supplies and build enclosures and kennels to accommodate at least 100 additional animals. To find out how you can help, please visit
https://www.soidog.org/content/urgent-appeal
With your support, even in these dire circumstances, we can stand by our commitment to never turn our backs on a homeless animal.
