Recently, December 16 to December 30, 2010, I traveled to Thailand to visit an old friend who is a vet in Thailand. Although some of the trip was vacationing, most of my time was spent helping her with her work with animals on the island of Koh Chang. She is dealing with a whole different set of medical problems than I am accustomed to; mostly emergencies, trauma, neglect and parasites. The stray population on the island is out of control and she does her best to sterilize every animal she can. She has a foundation and you can learn more about her and her organization at www.kohchanganimalproject.org. You can even donate to her work, if you want. I will post a few pictures and describe some of the events and animals I encountered while volunteering there. If you are ever in Thailand, you can look her up and volunteer for her, she will be grateful for any help she can get!! Her name is Lisa McAlonie.
This is a street dog in Bangkok. He, like most of the dogs in Thailand, is un-neutered and has demodex mange, a parasite which causes extreme hair loss and itching.
Lisa and I in her clinic/house in the village of Khlong Son, where her animal project is located. She can spay and neuter, help injured animals including cats, dogs and monkeys and takes care of strays and finds them homes.
Here is Lisa at the temple where she cares for the many cats and dogs who live there. She takes care of their health issues, such as wounds and parasites, as well as sterilizing as many of them as she can. She does not get paid for this work, but the monks do give her soap, rice and bottled water which they have received in donations/alms.
My son Michael and I riding an elephant! This was a fun part of the trip….and the money they collected for the rides goes to elephant conservation on the Island of Koh Chang, where we were staying. By the way, Koh means “island” and Chang means “elephant”.
Leave a Reply