Last chance to find a pet just right for you
An animal shelter caring for pets displaced by floods closes its doors. Can you help?
I usually say that no one should give a pet to someone else during the holiday season. It’s the time for sharing, to be sure, but you need to be absolutely positive that the one who’s receiving the pet really, really wants it.
More often than not, the dog or cat who ends up as a holiday present frequently ends up discarded by mid-January.
For this reason, animal shelters in the US and (I believe) the UK do not allow adoptions in December and January.
A situation has arisen, however, where the public have no choice. If you’re looking for a pet, you don’t have to look any further than the animal shelter in Bang Pakong – but you have only two days to decide, tomorrow and Tuesday.
All 226 dogs, 75 cats and 10 rabbits have found shelter here. Under the supervision of the Livestock Department, Bang Pakong has taken in any animal displaced by the rising water.
Some animals were brought in by rescuers. Others were brought in by their owners, who wanted to put their pets in a safe place until the floodwaters went down.
At least, that’s what the owners said. In many cases, the owners decided they didn’t want their pets back. Some owners phoned the Bang Pakong shelter to tell them. Others simply haven’t picked up their pets.
Today, though, the shelter is being closed down. It’s the final day that owners can claim their pets. Any animal remaining at the shelter will be re-located to the government shelter in Thong Pha Phum, Kanchanaburi.
With the help of a coalition of Chulalongkorn University, the Veterinary Practitioners Association of Thailand, the Veterinary Network for Animals Displaced by the Floods and the Thai Veterinary Medical Association (under Royal Patronage), the animals in Bang Pakong have been treated medically, vaccinated, and finally, just last Tuesday, bathed and groomed.
According to Chaiyot Tanrattana, spokesman for the coalition, although most of the dogs are mixed breeds, some of the dogs look to be pure-bred poodles.
“Any of these dogs will make fine pets,” he says.
Anyone who would like to adopt an animal can come to Bang Pakong and check out the dogs, cats and rabbits. Then you should inform the centre about which you’re interested in.
You’re going to find out that any cat, dog or rabbit you help will, in the end, help you enrich your own life.
