Volunteers come and go… or want to stay forever..

Today Amy and Josh left us and now we are down to 6 volunteers plus the vets.. It is just enough to do the daily tasks. I’m leaving next monday home to New Zealand.. The time is running so fast and it will be hard to leave.. You just start to love this place and all the animal who life there. No wonder why heaps of the people try to stay longer or come back. Everyone who loves dogs and cats should come and spend time at Lanta Animal Welfare in Thailand as it is all for a good reason and yes, you will love it as much as everyone else.

 

Lila and Stripey

Lila was abandoned at a closed bar/restaurant on Klong Dao beach and after being raped by a pack of dogs she was taken in by LAW. Quietly happy and content. She likes running in the water and jumping on beds for a cuddle!

     

Stripey arrived at LAW by herself in late 2010, and became surrogate mum to some of our puppies. Loves to play, is very good on a lead and can ‘sit’ and ‘lie down’.

     

Pepsi and Krusty

LAW found Pepsi when she was just eight weeks old and had been dumped behind the center. She had a wound on her lower back but after a week of treatment she was just fine. She’s very friendly and shows affection by dropping her ears back and letting out a low growl! She loves to play fetch with a stick or ball.

     

Krusty came to LAW after they received a phone call about a dog with no hair in Kantiang Bay. He had a severe case of mange but after 4 months of treatment, his fur grew back though his skin is still a bit itchy. Dominant within his group, he’s fluffy and cuddly and lounges around most of the day not doing very much, apart from a bit of barking. He doesn’t really likes his weekly bath..

     

 

The Clinic at Lanta Animal Welfare

In January 2010 Lanta Animal Welfare built the first Animal Clinic and Recovery Shelter on the island. We can now perform surgery and treat sick animals in a controlled environment – as of November 2011 we have sterilised more than 3,000 animals.

We still go out dog-catching and have regular sterilisation programs for the stray animals, but now increasing numbers of pet owners are showing up at the clinic to have their animals taken care of. This proves that we are making a difference and that our message is being heard.

Every single animal we sterilise also receives a rabies vaccination at the same time. There has been no recorded case of rabies on Koh Lanta for twelve years and we want to keep it that way. For owned animals we provide a combined vaccination against common diseases and encourage owners to return with their animals for boosters on a yearly basis.

We have treated more than 5,000 animals since 2005.  Animals are brought to us with any number of ailments, from skin parasites to knife wounds to broken bones from road accidents. We treat them to the best of our ability, and for the more serious cases we recommend owners take their pets to vet hospitals in Trang or Krabi.

     

Zip and Long

Zip has a special story. A creative local man rescued her from the road where she was about to be run over and brought her to us. Being Muslim, he couldn’t touch her so he put plastic bags around his hands and picked her up! She is good mate with Long and for me they look like brother and sister…

     

Long came to LAW 4 years ago after following a member of Time for Lime staff to work and being fed by her every day. He was treated for very bad mange (a skin parasite) and open sores. He was also diagnosed with heart worms. The disease is controlled but cannot be cured which means that he will have a shorter life. He is a sweet, gentle dog and as you see gets on with Zip pretty good…

       

Successfully recovered

Do you remember the little black puppie in my earlier posts? 

Today my little boy was back.. But not more so little.. Grown heaps and you can’t even see where the scars are… And he still has his big tongue

He was bitten from a big dog and you could see his skull… The clinic at Lanta Animal Welfare did everything they could to help him. And now, I was so glad to see him and he looks soooo happy!!!!!

     

Becks, a special boy…

Becks was just about 8 weeks old when he got found running free at a concrete site at Klong Klong in August 2011. When he came to LAW he was very scared of people… One of the Volunteers here, Phil Beswick, did a lot of work with him to build up some trust and get him better around people and also walking on the leash. Now Becks even eats out of my hand if I have some food or even water.

      

 

Adopted

Rufus arrived in the back of a van as a puppy with his mum and 5 brothers and sisters. All have been adopted since and Rufus is being adopted to the UK in 2012. Lucky you Rufus!!! He is now a good playmate with little Lucy.

     

Punk

A US lady staying at Lanta Weedee Resort bought her in for sterilisation. This area is notorious for poisoning so Lanta Animal Welfare kept her. A volunteer at LAW falt in love with Punk and adopted her. Lucky Punk!!!! So she is going to England in January 2012.

      

Now that is high season we get more and more visitors who want a “tour” at Lanta Animal Welfare and maybe take some dogs out for a walk. I like doing the tours and I’m sooo happy when the visitors leave some money as without donations we can’t survive…

So THANK YOU to everyone who donates money!!!!!!!

… and helps us walking the dogs. As than we have more time to do other things as there is always something to do…

Changing the world a little bit..

Sometimes I feel I would like to change the world…

Here at Lanta Animal Welfare every person who comes in and spend some of his time, love or money is changing the world a wee bit…

Junie did the first big step in changing the world of Koh Lanta: Junie Kovacs, the owner and creator of  the Time for Lime concept (2002), is also the founder of Lanta Animal Welfare (2005). Profit from the Time for Lime bar, restaurant and cooking school goes to LAW; this is our main source of funding and without this valuable support we would not be here.

“In 2005, during the construction boom after the tsunami, workers from all over Thailand came to help rebuild what had been destroyed. Many brought dogs and when the building was complete they left them behind. Tourists took pity over the dogs and began feeding them. This resulted in a high survival and reproduction rate causing a completely different kind of boom. That of starvation, disease, abuse and injuries. Something had to be done…”

Every volunteer, visitor and people who donate things or money are changing the world a little bit.

Love, Trust,Time, Money… Dogs and cats will say THANK YOU in their special way of love…