This is a long story but in brief, this is what happened.

Someone contacted Care for Dogs as they were trying to help a wild cat that was kept in a cage in a tiny village in the remote mountains near Chiang Rai.

It transpired that some people had visited a village near Wawawii in northern Chiang Mai province and whilst there had come into contact with a home owner that had kept a leopard cat in a small cage since the cat had started to eat a neighbours chicken and the cat had been caged for over a year.

These people had contacted a wildlife sanctuary near Hui Hin who would be able to take the cat into it’s rescue centre until it could be released into the wild again but there was one condition. Well 5 actually.

The Hui Hin Dog Rescue centre was being forced to close down and there were 5 dogs there in need of somewhere to stay.

So, the swap would have to happen, if the cat was to be rescued.

Steve & Ally from Care for Dogs journeyed up to Wawawii & beyond with a couple of people who had stayed in the village a year ago. After driving off road for about 2 hours in Steves 4×4, the team arrived literally “at the end of the track”.

After introductions to the people who apparently cared for the caged cat, we looked around the garden area where the cage had been pointed out to us. Quite frankly we didn’t need to be detectives, the smell and the flies told us where to look. The cat was extremely excited, leaping up the sides of the 1x1x1 meter cage and spitting wildly.

The home owner admitted they had not been able to touch the cat, named Assatjan, for some time and there looked to be no alternative to removing the cat without sedation. The pitiful state of the cat, looking underfed and definitely undernourished, along with the rancid and cramped conditions would in some parts of the world attract criminal proceedings.

In Thailand however, there are very little legislation to protect animals, whether they be wild or domesticated.

The team drove back to the shelter, over 4 hours journey and Assatjan slept soundly. On arrival, Karin took the cat into an isolated room in her home away from any prying dogs and allowed the cat to sleep off the sedative.

First thing the following morning, Steve & a friend set off for Nakorn Sowan with the cat in the back, along with a few empty cages. In Nakorn Sowan, they met up with folks from the Hui Hin wildlife sanctuary and made the exchange in the railway car park – At least it was daylight, not too dastardly!

Steve & co then returned to the shelter driving up in the afternoon & arriving at 23:00.

After some quarantining to settle them in, the weary “Hui Hin 5″ (Jee,Ginger,Bed,Smokey & Sideena) mingled with the other dogs in the shelter to find a temporary home to await adoption in Chiang Mai.

News from the sanctuary in Hui Hin is that Assatjan has settled into their current facility and they are building a larger enclosure for him and another leopard cat. Apparently the enclosure will be 12×4 metres outside, 4x3metres inside and 3 metres high at a cost of 82,000 baht. Assatjan has definitely been rescued!