29 June 2007

Puppy has strange walk


Tally, a gorgeous little pup is showing signs of a problems with her back legs. Today she visited the vet for assessment and the first the vet said, "she is deformed". Looking at her head & shoulders one can see she is broad and when one looks at her rear & hips, she is narrow. On physical examination, the vet found the route of some foot dragging and wobbling on those tiny legs. A deformed knee joint, which in essence has the bones too far away from each other and the ligaments cannot effectively control their movement as if they were nearer together.

In the pic, you might see the problem. The gap atthe front is so wide, one can put their finger into the crevace. This is apparently a classic condition many dogs suffer, possibly derived from genetic issues and inter species breeding.

The vet said to just allow the puppy to grow up & become comfortable with the condition, recommending that no treatment was necessary.

28 June 2007

Thursday Vet Run

We have said it before, it will be repeated here, TvT (Transmissible Venereal Disease) treatment is effective.

Today Moom & Phuky are given the all clear and after their individual journeys through the treatment course, they have reacted well to the medication and can now return to their routine lives.

Pat, Cynthia & Kelly are still hanging in there on their 3rd & 4th jabs but it will not be long before these girls are also given a green light for sterilisation & return to their homes.

Recently we became aware that folks reading this diary might be slightly confused about our treatment of TvT cases and we were concerned that people might think the disease was prevalent at the shelter. So in order to assist a clearer understanding, I will explain a little about how we come across these cases.

We are often contacted by dog loving folks to tell us about neglected dogs wandering the streets or of a temple where the numbers of dogs is growing and there being no real source of food or care. We also get calls from folks that see a neighbours dog in a poor condition and we also have our eyes wide open when moving around Chiang Mai, seeing the dog at the traffic lights or the dog with its head in a plastic bag looking for their next meal. And of course we also find cases by chance after the dog has been caught for sterilisation and under anaesthetic, an inspection reveals another problem.

When we first visit these dogs, it is quite apparent there are problems of the skin from loss of hair, blood, wounds etc. But less obvious initially are male & female dogs that either have blood coming from their sex organ, an obvious & visible tumour or at least a persistent licking or chasing of flies away. It is at this point we look closer and try to ascertain if there is a problem that we can help the dog overcome.

Often we find the onset of TvT is advanced and the tumour has developed to quite a size. However, sometimes, it is not until we take the dog to the vet for check, that we find they have a tumour in its early stage of development. Sometimes the initial diagnosis on the street is incorrect. The problem may well be vaginitis or even pyometra, which is an infection of the uterus and can be fatal.

So, as one can see from the above, these cases are not developing at the shelter but once we find a case of TvT ( or pyometra) we will take the dog to the shelter for care during the course of treatment, ensuring regular injections & also improved health overall.

Anyway, back to the vet trip!

Tac, one of the 3 poodles found dumped a few weeks ago on a road in Sankampeng, is the only one still at the shelter as the others, Tik & Toe, have already been adopted to new homes. He is having problems with his skin and today the vet confirmed that we should give regular showers with anti fungal shampoo. He is such an affectionate guy, he must have been in a family environment prior to being dumped.

Next up is Lady. Once again we are checking her blood condition. She is still not gaining weight and although the result of the blood test is overall positive, she still needs another check in 2 weeks time, whilst continuing on antibiotics, to assess if she has bacteria in her bone marrow or not.

Lastly there is Cindy. This puppy is actually last seasons pup of Cynthia. She was born at Wat Gaset Mai in Maejo and like her mother, very skittish and scared of humans. However, she is currently showing lethargy, not eating and losing weight. After a thorough check, the vet suggested we observe for a further 5 days & return for another check. Problem unknown!

Transportation cages for dogs - Rant

Wire transport cages only last so long in a shelter environment, especially when you have boisterous individuals that want to jump and play rough & tumble on them. When they get a quiet moment, they even enjoy a good chew on the aesthetically pleasing plastic coating and then there is the wire that maybe acts as some sort of flossing tool for the left overs of breakfast, stuck in the molars that only a good gnaw will remove.

Today, after a lot of cautious consideration, we decides to purchase some new cages and retire the older ones to sleeping accommodation, which I must say appears to have been a great success amongst the boisterous bunch. Maybe they had a plan all along! ( Remember the film Chicken Run??)

They are always scheming something. Anyway, enough of the paranoia. You would not believe the lengths one has to go to in order to get a reasonably cheap, functional & practical item like a transportation cage. There are lots of pretty colours, shapes & sizes to apparently please the eye but as far as strength, functionality & value for money, these are far and few. I wanted to buy 5 but after visiting no less than 12 different shops, I only managed to acquire 3.

I think it boils down to the folks who design these things. These cages are typically made with small tight openings through which the dog has to enter and then when the dog is inside, the means of securing the miniature door is so inadequate that it needs assistance to stay in place by means of a key ring clip or something similar. Now if a designer were to do some field analysis, they would observe the opening is the most important part, and the whole side of the cage should be removable & the securing mechanism should be attached to the stronger parts of the frame.

To give an example of a current trendy style of cage available, the size is about 1 metre square. The door is on the front and is just 40% of the front area. Further more, artistic interpretation gets in the way because within that small opening, there are 2 intruding curls of frame, as if to provide handles to the occupant to help them get out, like on the internal door pillar of a car.

Oh and did I mention the price? Well, these items cost the equivalent of one sterilisation.

If any reader has spare resources to effectively design, develop, manufacture & delivery, an improved article, the population of Thailand I am sure would be much obliged. Well at least those folks transporting dogs in Thailand.

27 June 2007

A sad admission

I have thought a while about writing this item, as the content is a little distressing and the person involved in the story is a man who is desperate to find a way to stay in Thailand legally. He expressly requested I publish his email to me which says more than I can write about the matter, so I will let you read that for yourselves.

___________________________________________________________________

please post this on your site,

PRIDE COMES BEFORE A FALL

in the UK i long prided myself in the care of my own dogs , of which i had several from childhood and throughout my life. of course, in the UK problems and illness with dogs are less prevalent and easier dealt with than here in Thailand.
it is with a heavy heart that i write in admission to allowing my pride to stand in the way of my golden retriever, Lay Lay, a big , playful bundle of soppyness, get the care he needed in proper time. thinking that i could control his problems myself i did , what i convinced myself was, my best in controlling a recurring mange problem.
the truth of the matter is that i became aware some time ago that my efforts were not really enough. events conspired to rob me of time as i became embroiled in the process of starting a business here in Chiang Mai. but that is no excuse.

having worked with carefordogs i knew i only needed to ask and they would help. finally i made that call this weekend and today Ally kindly took Lay Lay to the vet for much needed treatment. already having been beating myself up about it, my feeling of self loathing increased as i saw Allys reaction. She was not happy and i don't blame her. again, pride and concern for my own reputation made me ask her not to
publish photos. i retract that request and ask that the full story be known as an example to
ask others not to make my mistake. Carefordogs are there to help. Do not make your dog wait too long when they need that care.

I am now involved in a fulltime business here, my only option for being able to remain in this wonderful country , and further to my utmost apologies for not acting sooner in Lay Lays best interests I now have the concern for Lay lay and his companions Sam and Judy, being left for most of the day , which is something i cannot avoid until my business is well established and i get more free time, which could be several months. This is not fair on the dogs , so I ask that anyone who is looking, ideally someone with space and time for all 3, who are a well bonded friendly group, to get in touch through Carefordogs.
john
__________________________________________________________________
The photos of Lay Lay below are a sad reflection of a beautiful Golden Retriever who has been allowed to suffer an outbreak of dermodectic mange. I think this fella will recover quickly and find a home with people who will care for him. The other 2 dogs Sam & Judy, we shall recover to the shelter in the next few days and hope that they will also fin a home.


25 June 2007

Adoption Fair 2 - Another success

Yesterday, after much confusion about the date, the location within Airport Plaza & the number of pups & kittens to bring along, we finally showed Chiang Mai shoppers the strength of Care for Dogs team commitment, to help homeless dogs & cats find new homes.


Thanks to all the volunteers that were able to help on the day and a warm welcome to newcomers who made the occassion so much more a success. Well done to everyone, the adoption rate equalled the last event at 9 youngsters finding homes. The day also allowed us to communicate with many people, including some who showed interest in volunteering and gave us the opportunity to raise funds through donation & sales and also raise public awareness.

Oh, and I must stress a big thank you to Kh Yu for helping me with the blog.....I think she will get my meaning! ;)

23 June 2007

Panda goes home

Panda yesterday received his passport to freedom after completing his treatment for TvT (Transmissible Venereal Disease).

Today he went to his old haunt a small market area, just off the Night Bazaar in the city. The food vendors there welcomed him back with cheers and open arms. They even gave money towards his treatment. He looked pleased to be home and marked the occasion with a few boundary pee's, unfortunately much to the annoyance of one vendor who had some vegetables laid on the ground drying.

22 June 2007

Thursday vet trip

Panda was a little excited today, in more ways than one. Firstly when the vet looked at his willy, things started happening and following a final inspection for his TvT & given a clean bill of health, he was fit to go back home!! More of that later.

Phuky, after a long haul and a rough ride through her treatment for TvT, is also given the all clear today and we will sterilise her next week, as she is attracting attentions from handsome admirers at the shelter, as she appears to be on heat.

Pat, Kelly & Cynthia had their next TvT injections without incident and Moom appears to be on his final jab today, the vet saying she wanted to see him again next week & than his treatment should also be complete.

Dam, a cute short legged adult black dog, brought to the shelter for recuperation after being beaten up & badly bitten in the neck by other dogs, was sterilised last week and since then has been showing a strange nervous symptom. She literally curls her neck round to one side, as if staring at her tail and then walking like a drunk robot.

The vet said we should stop the antibiotics and see if this was a reaction to the medication and assured us that this was not a reaction to the anaesthetic at surgery of sterilisation.

The smallest of the cases today was Heather. She is a tiny pup of about a month old but with a dead tip to her tail. The vet suggested an operation under local anaesthetic this afternoon to remove the dead portion, which seems to have died due to some trauma.

And finally it was the turn of Lady, the abandoned elderly Labrador to have another check on her blood condition. She is not gaining weight and continues to look very thin and weak. Back at the shelter she is behaving like a broody mum, demanding to be with any young puppies, just to be near them. We think this reflects a little of her history that we are completely in the dark about. Maybe she was a breeding dog and now discarded as she came to the end of her production value. What ever the story, we will make every effort to bring her back to better health in her retired years.

16 June 2007

Mandy gets relief at last

Today Mandy returned to the vet to have surgery again. It had now become quite obvious the discomfort she was in, trying to pee constantly but never a lot coming out. In the pic you can see she was eager to get there too!

The result of the surgery was a success, the 2nd pic shows what she was carrying in her bladder. The vet said these were small compared to some stones he has removed but all the same, very uncomfortable for the poor dog.

15 June 2007

Karin & Ally Roadshow

Today we managed to come into contact with several doggy people and meet many dogs whilst working through our route plan.(A document that I must tell you is a work of art which Karin spends endless hours into the night before planning)


However, today we were also making preparations for next weeks adoption fair by seeking produce to sell and checking on facilities at the venue. We have the green light for our second of these events. Saturday 23 June 2007, at Airport Plaza Chiang Mai, on the 2nd floor adjacent to Tokyo Optic and near Robinsons. But more of that later.


Our first doggy contact today was a lovely retired gentle man who should really be part of the Care for Dogs team ( we're working on that) who has great interest in dogs in his area, bringing medical problems to our attention and trying to help these poor creatures where ever they live.


He took us to a house in his neighbourhood, where we saw an American Pit Bull Terrier chained up and kept in this way 24x7. After talking to the residents there, it transpires the original owner moved to Australia and left the dog behind. They want the dog to be happy and feed him what they can but they are very keen to find the dog a better home, with people who know how to care for him.



He is not old, maybe about 2 and is very strong & healthy. He likes people & plays well but needs space to run around and people to love him.


We suggested getting a muzzle for him, to reduce the fear that local people had of the dog biting them and then at least getting him off the chain and giving him some freedom. In the meantime we will include him in our ever growing list of dogs needing adoption to good homes.


Next stop was to deliver back home a dog that had been away for sterilisation, warmly greeted by her friends and then it was off to Wat Nong Ba Kang, not far from the Railway station in Chiang Mai, where we were also returning a dog after sterilisation.


Ya came to us last year with a very severe case of TvT and after prolonged chemotherapy treatment, sterilisation, she has now regained good health and as it seems nobody has been showing her any interest in respect of adoption, we are returning her to her old home at the temple.


On arrival it was clear she had been missed. The monks and people in the area remembered her by name and her doggy friends welcomed her back too.


Whilst there, we gave all the dogs some food, gave as many mange & heartworm vaccinations as possible and left a bag of food for the monks to feed the dogs themselves. There are some serious cases for intensive mange therapy,so when we return the 3 we collected here last time, we will take more of these away to the shelter for regular administration of Ivomec.


We were now thinking of returning home as it was 9 pm already but received an emergency call from the security guards at the entrance to the US Consulate in the city. When we arrived , we found Uan, street dog laying in a a doorway, very wet from sweat, urine, vomit & saliva. She was barely breathing. The guards said she had been like this all day and did not know what to do & called us after someone suggested our name to them. They said they liked the dog and wanted to help her. There was a piece of bbq chicken in front of her nose.


We rushed her to the only animal facility available on a 24 hour basis in Chiang Mai and to our amazement & delight the on duty team today jumped into action with "ER" characteristics and tried to save her life. Sadly within minutes of arrival, she passed away. Maybe she waited for someone to help and then relaxed and slipped away.


The vet in charge, a very competent & friendly young guy said that this was definitely organic phosphate poisoning and unless dogs are helped early in their suffering, there is little they can do to stop the cruel death.


We took Uan back to the shelter and found a peaceful spot to bury him in an orchard nearby.


Uan is now another statistic of the growing numbers of poisonings occurring in & around Chiang Mai. It is a scary thought, when you have dogs of your own, that people that either have a grudge against others, don't like dogs or just want to be nasty, can cause such unnecessary loss of life. It is also scary that authorities are not interested in taking any reasonable actions to investigate, let alone prosecute in the interest of dogs. So far, Chiang Mai has not experienced mass poisonings that have occurred in locations such as Koh Samui and I hope it never will but there is no safety net for these poor creatures should such a campaign ever be implemented.

14 June 2007

13 Dogs to the vet in 2 cars!

Out TvT (Transmissible Venereal Disease) campaign continues unabated, today we had 6 cases to see the vet for update check & injections. The course of treatment typically lasts 4 to 7 weeks, depending on the severity of the tumour, the consistent provision of the medication and the dogs state of health to deal with the chemotherapy.

Phuky has been on the treatment the longest and is now well & truly on the road to recovery. Her condition was severe due to extended neglect and despite recently having fly larvae in her tumour, with antibiotics and increased cleaning routine, she will possibly only need one or maybe 2 more jabs.

Panda is doing very well. We are at least able to see his tumour, as the size has decreased and his foreskin can be pulled back, something a couple of weeks ago was unthinkable. He will need another visit next week before he is completely cleared.

Moom is in the same condition, check next week and then see if he can have Thursday's off in the future! Poor guy, hates getting up so early every Thursday for his trip to the shelter from home at 6.30am and then hanging out with all those homeless lot at the shelter!

Kelly is a new one to the list, she was picked up for sterilisation 2 weeks ago and found to have TvT during the op.

Cynthia is the girl we blow darted last week at a temple to bring in for sterilisation. She too was found to have TvT. Living at the temple, she is very scared and not social with people and handling her was a little problematic at times. I am convinced it wasn't the thought of me darting her again.

Pat is a restaurateur from near my home. Well that's what she said but frankly she is a dog that lives behind & under a restaurant with her 4 month old puppy along with a male companion. What a life! She has early TvT and hopefully will not need too many jabs as some of the cases we see.

Next up was Angie. She was found wandering in the streets with no place to call home. Her right eye is deformed and the vet said that this was a congenital condition called Anophthalmia. He suggested that unless it became infected, to just leave and keep clean. We will need to observe her and see how she goes on. The reality is that if she is startled, she shows a small eye because her reaction is to open her eyes wide and the small under developed eye shows through the controlling eye lids. Otherwise it just hides out of the way.

Mandy ( was called Pui) had her large tumour removed last week and today she is seeing the vet as she is having problems passing water. (Having a pee) The vet inspected her and said this was most definitely a bladder full of stone. We will take her in this Saturday for another op. Bless her, she is such a lovely girl. Dumped on the streets as she was, to improve her health would be a pleasure & give her a new lease of life.

Lady the Labrador is here today for an update blood check, to see if her platelets are recovering their balance.

After completing their other treatments over the past few weeks, Lucy & BuunRod are commencing their Heartworm treatments. The blood tests of kidney & liver were satisfactory and they got their first injections for Heartworm today. They have been on Aspirin for a week, to prepare their blood and today the injection will start to kill off the worms , which in both cases the vet said were at an early stage. Tomorrow they will receive their second & final injection. We will need to ensure they don't run around too much, so the dying worms do not clog their hearts & cause other problems.

Libby a cute little ball of fun. She was dumped along with 6 other pups at the front gate of Karin's home last weekend in a sack. They are getting along fine at this stage but time will tell. They were obviously removed from their mother far too early and their immunity will not be high. Today Libby was the 'guinea pig', getting the once over for blood, faeces & skin tests to check if they have anything happening that we should be aware of. The blood test shows a parasite present and we will medicate accordingly. Unchecked, maybe they would slowly deterioate. Watch this space.

And then last but far from least, is Joe. This dog was rescued last week from the corridors of a police station at a late hour of the day, where he had sought refuge. He was diagnosed last week by one learned scholar, who is currently responsible for teaching veterinary students at a reputed clinic associated with a local university ( no names no pack drill!), as suffering from pneumonia. Unfortunately, there is only one 24 hour emergency centre here.

Today the vet, who we are more confident with, gave us a proper diagnosis. He x-rayed Joe's neck and found the 1st vertebrae, the one you feel is a big lump behind your skull, or the dogs for that matter, to be damaged. The flange on the left appeared to be misshapen or fractured and this it was suggested could attribute why he was walking stiffly and could not bend his head. The vet gave him an anti inflammatory (a characteristic of my writing maybe?) injection and prescribed Prednisolone 2 x twice a day. (Karin tells me that Joe is already showing improvements, just hours after his jab)

10 June 2007

Happy & Sleepy find a new home


Regular readers will recall the sad sight of these 2 who could not walk, let alone raise their head to eat or drink, when we first saw them in a local village family home.

They were brought to the shelter for a better chance and as can be seen from their other mentions in this diary, http://allycfd.blogspot.com/search/label/Sleepy they have strengthened & grown.

This week a couple came to the shelter & fell in love with them. A very happy ending!

7 June 2007

Rescue of dogs..... Mae Jo Chiang Mai

Karin & I were joined today by a volunteer Heather, who wanted to see how things were on the streets of Chiang Mai.

The day started with a visit to Kad Farang where we knew a couple of white dogs hung out around the area. Sure enough we found one of them and she looked very skinny & neglected. We gave her some food & noted that she was possibly sterilised already but as we had a full schedule today, we will return again soon with more food and after she becomes more approachable, we will be able to give her a proper assessment.

On the way to Mae Jo, we caught up with Tameer & Hannah, who is now starting to use her remaining back leg a little after hands on therapy & a lot of love & encouragement provided by Tameer.

Next stop was Maejo, at Wat Vivek. Here we made several feeding stops in the temple area, catching up with some of the regular faces.

Not too far away from here, we visited a building site where Karin had in recent weeks been speaking with a family living in a rundown bamboo shack, with several dogs & Karin had sterilised one of them. This week, when Carolyn, another volunteer visited the area during her temple feeding schedule, it turned out that the family had moved away and left the dogs behind.

One of the dogs had recently had several puppies and these were now just left to fend for themselves.

Today when we arrived at the shack, where we were joined by Carolyn & her brother who is currently in Thailand on holiday, we found only one little pup hiding under the floor in amongst the debris of life ( you name it, it was there!) and after a little encouragement and the friendly face of the recently sterilised dog, we managed to catch the pup & load it onto the truck. The mum turned up and we managed to catch her by putting food in a cage and then using rope, closed the door behind her and pulling the cage over on its side, trapping her inside. Sounds rough but she wasn't hurt and we hope she will benefit from our efforts. We also found a little brown cutie and we loaded her onto the truck along with the recently sterilised one. There being no sign of the other pups, we asked around for any sighting of them. We were directed to an area where the construction workers thought they might be but alas they were not there.

However, fate was playing with us again and we were somehow meant to visit this house. Asking the occupant & not trusting the answer, Karin looked around the back of the house & saw a wooden crate type box with a dog kept inside. The dog was not able to stand fully, there were faeces on the floor and it was dark & hot and made us feel extremely sad, angry and our emotions ran wild. We asked why the dog was kept here & the woman in the house said the dog ate chickens. We asked if we could take the dog away from them to help but she said we should return later & speak with the husband.

A neighbour, wearing a box type straw hat said one of his dogs was apparently not eating and we saw it had runny eyes , so we put her on the truck. The man in the hat said we should go with him to the village head ( who runs a local convenience store) who apparently needed us to help him treat his dog for mange. We gave one of the 3 dogs there a jab of Ivomec & headed off to look again for the pups.

No sign of them back at the construction site, we pressed on to Wat Gaset Mai, where we intended to give some food to the dogs and also collect 2 for sterilisation. This temple, as well as the previous one, has so many dogs, the true numbers are hard to count. To say that there are in the region of between 80 & 100 at the 2 temples would not be an exaggeration. Care for Dogs has previously carried out sterilisation of most of the dogs here but the 2 we wanted to catch today were shy & scared of people, so not easy to collect. After recent success with the blow dart, we thought we could put an end to the tiring efforts over the last couple of years to catch them.

The first one was no problem, we caught her unaware and after a little running around, the drug took effect and she fell asleep. The second one was a different story. To cut a long story short ( long, as in 1 hour walking around & around with her constantly barking and running off & maintaining her 20 metres safety zone, us hiding behind trees and offering delicious food) we failed to catch her.

So, back to the construction site and this time, a young school boy was there to help us. Unfortunately, it is not seen as acceptable in Thai culture to hug each other or show emotions in public but I do wish I could have given him a big hug. He is 11.

We found another 2 pups and eventually caught them, after a lot of running around and me taking a dive in a pond up to my waist, as long grass laid on the top of the water like a trap. Glad it was me not the puppies! Then we saw yet another puppy but somehow lost sight of this one and heard from the construction workers that there were in fact 2 more still to be caught. Oh well, Carolyn will go back tomorrow & see if she can catch them. Not content with a full truck of needy doggies, we also took along the father of the pups, who literally laid down in front of us, asking to come back to the shelter.

Time was now getting on so we returned to the dog in the wooden prison cell and this time we met a man who after some discussion, said he wanted to keep the dog for breeding as it was a special breed and showed us that he did take it out occasionally, by putting the dog on a chain and keeping it tethered to a post. Meanwhile 2 other dogs ran around free.

Karin & I played with the dog who was desperate for attention and both of us felt extremely agitated by the mans constant refusal to let us take the dog away, if he would not let it run free, like his other dogs. Eventually, after some negotiating, we paid him 1,000 baht and took the dog away with us.

Back at Kad Farang we caught up with the 2 white street dogs, who welcomed an unexpected meal and thanked us for stopping by.

6 June 2007

Dog Contest - Well posed dog pics

Any one who has ever tried to photograph dogs, by encouraging them to sit in one spot whilst their camera boots up, focuses & takes the shot that 30 seconds before looked so perfect, will realise that this masterpiece captured by Karin this week was an opportunity not to be missed.



These 3 beauties took it upon themselves to arrange where they sat. In reverse order, the winners are...... Mira for her agility, Samli for her serenity & Bessy for having such courage to climb all that way without having complete hip joints. Also captured at a right moment were Bobby & Emma bedding down for a sleep and Sherry who is just a sociable girl, who likes to sleep on the window sill!

5 June 2007

Back in the saddle

Teamed up with Karin today to visit a good friend of ours and carry out some vaccinations of young pups he has been caring for. After that we headed off to a temple in Chaing Mai city, where we intended to look at the dog population and possibly introduce a local school who are keen to start a 'Temple Aid Project' and start the process of sterilising the residents & improving their health.
Well we certainly found what we were looking for. Dogs came from every corner of the courtyard and there were some even tucked away, waiting for the monks there to show us. 3 new born pups, no more than a month old, sleeping on a dark & dirty kitchen stone floor.


Running around the car park was a little cutie, pregnant and waiting to populate the place with even more pups. Mange cases rife, limps, ticks, fleas & possible TvT & pyometra too. There will no doubt be blood parasite cases here and all will need to be brought up to speed on their vaccinations. Who knows, there might even be heartworm.

After giving as many dogs as we could some dry food, we managed to take the expectant mum, a bad mange case and a possible TvT & pyometra case with us in the car, stopping off at the vet with the latter 2 for full diagnosis.

Sure enough, there was good cause for concern, the poor girl with a pussy vulva has TvT and we will arrange for her to be sterilised asap and assess if she has pyometra whilst under anaesthetic.

This temple will certainly welcome the efforts of the enthusiastic youngsters we hope will take on this site as their first project. We estimated there to be in excess of 30 dogs either in the temple grounds or visitors from surrounding homes that would benefit from regular feeding & some organised medical attention. The monks were certainly appreciative of our interest.