Dangers for the small and helpless
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With small pedigrees fetching money on the market, it's better never to leave a dog out alone
What a terrible thing! A friend’s tiny dog (a chihuahua-shih tzu mix) has just been stolen - and right outside her house.
Since my friend’s soi is narrow with a dead-end, she thinks it’s safe enough to let her dog out in the morning for a few minutes. This morning, she lets the little dog out, and while she’s on the second floor of her house, she hears a car stop nearby.
She doesn’t recognise the white Toyota or the driver. Then a man gets out of the car, grabs the dog and drives off.
My friend screams, but by the time she reaches the soi, the car - and her dog - are gone.
What can she do? Since she didn’t get the licence number, the police can’t help. Just how many white Toyotas are driving around Bangkok, do you think?
She thinks that maybe he wants to sell the dog. Such a cute little dog could bring around Bt1,500. She goes to lots of markets and even to Chatuchak, but she doesn’t find her dog.
I worry about my own little dog too. People tell me that a thief could sell my little poodle Wan-Wan for around Bt2,000 in the market.
When we go for walks, she’s always on a leash, and I’ve trained her not to run out the gate when it’s open.
I don’t worry so much about the cats, but then on Thursday Thong, one of the soi cats who uses my home as a hotel, disappears. At first, I don’t worry. This boy loves his food, I think. He’ll show up in the morning, but three days go by, and there’s no Thong.
Best friend Thep still drops by regularly for food and even relaxes inside, but Thong doesn’t come in.
My neighbour thinks someone stole him. “He’s such a pretty cat and friendly too,” she says. “It would be easy for someone to grab him and take him home.”
Toh, who helps me with the house, has another thought. “Thong is so fat, maybe someone caught him and ate him.”
The problem is that these are two real possibilities. Worse situations go through my mind. Thong could have been killed by a dog or a car or a stupid person.
Then, on the Sunday, Thong re-appears late at night. Thep, calling me from the street, tells me that he’s brought the boy home.
Is he thin! He’s hungry, he’s thirsty, and he’s really upset.
Then I understand. It’s been a long weekend. He must have walked into a house when no one saw him. The family locked up and went on a trip. It was only when they returned did they find him inside and throw him out.
I’m much luckier than my poor friend and her dog. It’s unlikely that she’ll ever see her pet again.
