Personally, one of the most exciting happenings at Care for Dogs in 2010 has been the Adoption Fairs held at Central Airport Plaza. Once a month, usually on a Sunday, committed volunteers set up a booth and a puppy pen outside at one of the busy shopping centers entrances in the hopes of securing forever homes for the shelter puppies.

As not all people would come out to our shelter south of town, the idea is to bring the dogs to the people! Thorough adoption interviews and contracts make sure that the decision for a puppy, kitten, or a dog is serious and the owners are aware of a live long commitment. At the last adoption fair on June 6, a total of 6 puppies and one kitten found a new home!

This successful programme has helped to elevate the shelters’ adoption numbers and also expose the activities of Care for Dogs to a broader audience of people in the Chiang Mai community and raise awareness for homeless dogs.

The sales of T-shirts, bags, postcards, magnets, soft toys and other products also helps to raise much needed funds for homeless dogs and puppies.

And though that’s pure facts this goes hand in hand with the change to make more dogs (and people) happy as you can see at these canine and human faces:

For Hand to Paw students and other CFD volunteers like Francis who work specifically with temple dogs this has been a godsend. Care for Dogs has been instrumental in trying to find family placement for the puppies that are frequently dumped at the temples; a huge strain on both the monks and temple resources.

Since November 2010, Hand to Paw has had 39 puppies dumped and abandoned at Wat Nongplaman, Wat Huay Sai, Wat Mae Ann and Wat Nam Ton. There has been a huge effort by everyone in Hand to Paw and Care for Dogs to get the puppies vaccinated, fed properly, cleaned, de-wormed, vaccinated and now with the new adoption fair…adopted!

Upcoming adoption fair dates are regularly posted on the website. The next fair will be on Sunday, July, 18, 11.00 – 18.00 h. Please help us to spread the word or drop by the shelter to visit the little ones in the puppy pen!

And here some more pics of those lovely one just waiting for you: