Yeung came to the Care for Dogs shelter in a very sorry state in early August 2008. You can read more about him here …

Today we returned Yeung to the Government School, near to the 700 Year Sports Stadium, on the canal road towards Mae Rim.

The security staff at the school, as well as the grounds men and companion dogs were all there to welcome him back, although at first they wondered who this dog was! He was clean, slightly chubby and walking on all 4 feet.

After a little reunion and it must be said a little cajoling to actually get out from the transportation cage, therefore cutting his ties with the regular meals twice a day, the tummy rubs and the daily wound dressing that he had become so accustomed to, he was back on his own territory and marking it to refresh his presence.

As with a lot of our work, you lift the carpet and find dust swept out of sight underneath, after Yeung had settled in, we were invited to look at another dog at the school.

Moo Moo (pronounced like the sound of a cow) lives in and around the ground staff accommodation at the back of the school.

She was introduced to me as “3 years old” “no no 7 years…” “no no 5 years old” to be sure, it is safe to say she is no youngster. She waddled out into the sunshine from her shady spot and as if on stage, laid down on her back, legs akimbo to show me her problem.

Hanging from her abdomen, was a large black sack, like a male dogs scrotum, but the size of a large grapefruit, swinging and sometimes hitting the ground when walking, now laid on her back, it just became a part of her body she needed to think about when settling down to be comfortable. Like an extra leg or limb!

We suggested that a Vet would be best placed to say what could be done and indeed after taking Moo Moo to the Vet, she was diagnosed with suffering from a hernia, the contents of her stomach, breaching the lining and falling out under the skin.

There was bad news though, her liver tests were poor so we are going to pep her up with FBC for a couple of weeks, test her again and then make the decision about surgery. But in any case, whilst under anesthetic, we will also have her sterilised.

(For info - We tried looking after her at the shelter for 5 days but she just refused to eat and sat in a corner. We returned her to her home for the folks there to give her the meds and she immediately brightened up and ate some food. We will collect her for a vet trip in about 10 days time.)

As for Jet, prior to being taken in to the shelter for treatment for his skin and eyes, he lived on the forecourt of a hotel, at the side of the Superhighway not far from the Rincome intersection in Chiang Mai.

Jet had no issues about getting out of the transportation cage, he just wanted to tour his territory, mark it, scratch it, sniff it and visit the beautiful (and thoughtfully placed & provided) water feature for a long forgotten slurp.

I say ’slurp’ as when he came away, his entire head and shoulders were drenched, he took a shower too.

To greet him were the staff at the car park and the front of house manager. They were pleased he looked better and like a few other folks when they see us returning dogs, they asked “Why do you do this?”

Setting the duplicitous meaning aside, it’s times like this that make us realise “why we do it”.