This is what I said about working with Care for Dogs in August 2006:
Volunteering with Care for Dogs makes me very happy and I feel that major forces have been at work for many years, angling for me to be here, to do this and make a difference to the dogs around Chiang Mai. It gives me a tremendous feeling of satisfaction and a sense of completion.

I have always been an animal lover and for many years in England, I lived with dogs around me and supported and encouraged organisations like the RSPCA and legislation that give protection to animals. But sadly, here in Thailand, that safety net does not exist and it is very sad to see dogs suffering from neglect, mistreatment but generally ignorance.

To give one example I would like to tell the story of a wonderful creature called Boon Lai. Some time ago I visited a temple complex in Chiang Mai and saw a dog curled up on the ground at the road side. His back was bleeding and there was very little hair anywhere on his body. His legs were red and through the blood I saw the bones of his ribcage. After I talked with people around the area I found that the dog had been fed occasionally but never taken to a vet. Apparently, as best people could remember, he had been this way for at least a year.

I took him to a vet and cried as the extent of his suffering became clear. He had contracted mange from his mother at birth and only when his immune system had lowered did the onslaught commence. Blood was running from his open wounds where he constantly scratched and the smell was rancid. I took him back to the shelter and after extensive treatment for 8 weeks he is just getting some hair back and the skin has become stronger and doesn’t bleed so easily. He is recovering slowly but it will be a few more weeks before he can return to join his other temple friends. If only he had been treated earlier ?

Caring for dogs should not be about rescue shelters, it should be about treating dogs with respect and educating people to care for them where ever they are. However, the first step is to rescue the poor creatures at risk now and hopefully enlighten people for future generations who may change cultural attitudes, develop basic education in the home and in schools, let alone initiate legislation.

After staying with Care for Dogs for a complete 12 months, I made a very difficult decision to pull back from volunteering so closely with the dogs, as many will have read in my blog, recalling the intense emotions the work forced upon me. In fact at one stage I thought I would have a breakdown, as I was just so stressed and wound up about all the various emotions that go hand in hand with this type of work.

But other people seem to cope with those emotions differently and therefore to label volunteering with dogs with such a dark image is inappropriate. However, be warned!

After a much needed break I then started volunteering again in 2008, taking on the task of Website development and thankfully with the help of an international team of translators and webmasters, the multilingual site is reaching a very wide audience.

To populate the website with information, I restarted a hands on volunteer role, visiting vets every week along with a car load of dogs for assessment, treatment & advice.

Then in August 2009 made a massive decision. I started working Monday to Friday at the shelter in Hang Dong as the Shelter Manager. It is totally engrossing, very hard work and at times very stressful but I like doing this activity and feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to be doing the work I can enjoy so much.

Thanks for taking time to read this and other details on this site and if you are ever so slightly inclined to help Care for Dogs, please make a commitment now, get in touch and talk about it.

You can read about some of my activities with the dogs here … and if you would like to contact me, please email me here …

Ally