DOGS IN THE SOI, II

I saw something horrible and strangely touching tonight. If you have ever been to Bangkok, you’ve seen the stray dogs. Although some may disagree, I think it’s one of the biggest, most disgusting problems of Bangkok.

When you first arrive in Bangkok, if you are even the tiniest bit the animal lover, you are appalled and disgusted with blanketing of stray dogs throughout the streets of the city. I can’t even imagine what would happen to one of those PETA people. They must go totally out of their mind, start convulsing and foaming at the mouth. Kind of apt, actually, since a high percentage of these “street dogs” have rabies. I’ve only seen one myself, though apparently you can’t “see” it. The stereotypical foaming at the mouth dog (that I saw so many times in my children’s book on Louis Pasteur as a child), is rather rare.

But, I always did consider myself a lover of animals. It used to be almost more than I could humanely bear as a child to be told again and again “No” to my request for a dog or cat. Almost the moment I could have a pet, I did (the day after I moved into an apartment that could have one – only cats). I still have one of the two kittens I got from the humane society that day. A now, nine year old female cat named after a Milan Kundera character.

Here in Thailand, it is always unbearable at times. Puppies abound, frolicking through the crowded streets, facing speeding cars, indifferent motorcycles, annoyed people, other aggressive dogs, fleas, ticks, rabies, and some other diseases that were totally unknown to me before I arrived here (seeing a dog who has totally lost all of his fur is a pretty dreadful thing). If the dog’s lucky, it will make it a few years without a broken leg, torn-off ear, gauged-out eye, etc. Furthermore, the life of a dog is the canine version of Lord of the Flies. You know that rare occasion when you are in the presence of two dogs fighting? The wild growling and flying fur? It’s quite frightening?

MUAHAHAHA what a joke! That sound is so damn common here, I have literally tuned it out of my hearing capabilities. I have heard what I thought were human screams, and rushed outside only to find street dogs going through their thrice-daily fight for territorial domination. Each pack of dogs owns a very small strip of the street. Anywhere from about 10-200 feet. Several times a day a dog from the adjacent “territory” will wander in (usually purposefully) and a ferocious fight will ensue. The screams, growls, and yelps are surprisingly dramatic and loud. Torn body parts and bloody wounds are often the result.

Yet, a dog here will almost never face starvation. The Thais take “animal loving” to a different plane than that in the U.S. Here, as Buddhists, Thais believe in taking care of living things, of not killing any creature. This means, after every Thai family finishes dinner, they usually dutifully wrap up their rice and spare meat, and place it in front of a group of thankful stray dogs, who wolf it down quickly. The dog may be limping, bleeding, have half its hair gone, but it won’t miss dinner! In fact, the school I work at takes 1-2 enormous plastic garbage pails (the kind you have in your garage or fill up with raked leaves) full of the food children scrape off their trays at lunch, and dump it in a nearby vacation where a large family of dogs feasts. It’s no wonder these dogs multiply like…rabbits.

Sure, most people can see the irony there. Is it better to let stray dogs on the street continue to breed, go through their Lord of the Flies lifestyle, itch, scratch, whimper, etc.? Or is it better to “save” them from such a life (and clear the damn street as well!) by euthanisizing them and creating some damn dog shelters to take care of those who might be adopted? Of course, if I had it my way, it’d be the latter, but that’s because that’s how it’s done in my country. Also, I can’t stand to see these dogs suffer so badly just so they can “live.” Just recently I gave my neighbors (who have, at last count, have 9 dogs) a flea & tic spray since their dogs began to lose their hair.

Well, what I’m getting at is a bit different. That was a big introduction, because I guess it still really bothers me. Plus, I see all these puppies who are so damn cute and sweet grow up to be wild dogs, prowling the street like the Crypts and the Bloods, with an even shorter life expectancy. I want to take them so bad (even the cats, though they have it slightly better), but having no yard, and already two cats inside the house, I can’t. I did get two kittens once and took them home. Two weeks later they were both dead, despite the fact that one was rushed to the hospital and put on oxygen. The vet informed me that they took a sample of 10 stray cats off the street, and 7 out of 10 of them had feline leukemia. The two kittens I took home almost killed my current cat. Though the kittens died, she lived, because she was a healthy adult cat, but she did spend a scary four days in the hospital.

Okay, back to my story (2 pages later). I was in my home tonight, my home with few windows, but two thin front door right on the street. The dogs in my “territory” are very familiar with me and I love them dearly. As I was typing an email for work, I heard a dog yelp. This in itself, like I mentioned, is not rare, but this time…it was different. Sometimes, you just know.

I scrambled to put some pants on, and ran outside. It was dark, but I could still see a dog, one of the puppies, laying on the ground, writhing around wildly and screaming in pain. Ambling slowly away was one of those worker trucks, used to carry low-income workers from job to job. The obvious culprit.

The mother dog, was standing over the little girl puppy. As each of the other street dogs approached, curious or with evil intentions, I do now know. She growled viciously at them, attacking them repeatedly, to keep them away from her baby. I approached slowly, and watched as she cried and cried, desperately licking away all the blood that was pouring out of the puppy’s mouth, as if to stop it. The puppy continued crying and gyrating for another minute before it was still. The mother dog turned to me, knowing I would not hurt her or her baby, and I whispered, “Oh, mama dog.” (That’s my name for her). She turned and took a couple steps up to me, crying and crying, just like any other mother. I stroked her head again and again and told her I was so sorry. She turned back to the baby and continued licking it until the blood stopped flowing from its mouth. Then she went on to try and lap up every drop of blood that surrounded the puppy, splatters from the crushing tires. She couldn’t seem to stop. She seemed to want to resurrect her baby. Who can blame her?

I then marched toward the truck, which had headed toward the river (not far from my place). I found it some distance off, the driver parking it at the end of a long gravel driveway. My hands were on my hips. I was fuming. He yelled out, “What?” in Thai. I didn’t know how to communicate this. I slammed my hands together to try and symbolize his crushing the puppy. I yelled out in Thai, “The puppy! You did it! Your car! It’s dead!” He knew he had hit it (and had not stopped). He yelled out, with little concern, “I didn’t see it!” I stomped off. Hardly much in terms of seeking retribution, but there really isn’t much I can do. The smallest consolation in me is that he knew I was furious at him. I hope I “ripped his face open” (one of the absolute worse things that can happen to a Thai), at least a little bit. In the end, it’s a street dog, no one will really care. They might give an “awww,” but that’s it. This also at some point gets to one of the things I’ve experienced about Thai culture which has really really really bothered me. This lack of taking responsibility for ANYTHING. The fact that the guy said “I didn’t see it,” and therefore in a sense, admitting it, was surprising to me, despite his indifference. So many times, I have watched as people here flat out deny doing something wrong, even if the action was witnessed (sometimes, right in front of me). This is natural in children, but it is one of my greatest pet peeves in my life regarding all human beings (adults) – not taking responsibility for when you cause harm, pain, annoyance, etc.

In the end though, I walk away from this with some warmth inside. Seeing that mother dog try to simultaneously protect and revive her baby was more touching that I can convey. She was able to communicate everything – her desperation, her fear, her grief. I think I saw more humanity tonight in a dog than I have seen in some human beings in my current life. That, is so sad.