Why is it a scourge?

Stray dogs are a real scourge in Thailand. However, we can hope to soon be able to say this in the past tense because things are changing – I’ll come back to that.
Why is it a real scourge?
Because the number of stray dogs has been multiplying for years; as there were no regulations, and these dogs belonged to no one, they bred extremely quickly and unchecked. It’s a scourge because, as there are so many of them, it causes several problems.

• Firstly, some live in packs and can pose a certain danger to the public, particularly to foreign nationals, but also to the Thai population. This is because dogs in packs tend to be a little more aggressive at times, mainly because they are generally very skittish. So in a situation where they are frightened – for example, if someone is running, such as going for a jog on the road – they can become aggressive. Most people who regularly go for a walk or a run carry a stick. That’s usually enough.
• They also pose a real danger to road traffic, particularly to motorcyclists, because these dogs may well be sleeping right in the middle of the road or cross the road at any moment whilst playing, chasing each other or simply to look for food on the other side. And in such situations, it often takes you by surprise, particularly when you’re on a two-wheeler. Stray dogs cause many scooter accidents, which can have serious consequences ranging from burns sustained upon impact with the ground to broken limbs, or even fatalities in some cases. It really is a problem.
• Although bites are fairly rare, there have been a few cases of rabies. It is therefore essential, in the event of a bite or scratch from a stray dog – even if the wound is minor – to go immediately to hospital for rabies treatment.

Are they truly stray dogs?

I make a distinction between two categories.
I think there are genuinely stray dogs that often live in packs in woods, for example, or in rural areas. At one of the golf courses where I play, where there is quite a dense forest, there are packs of dogs that emerge from the woods from time to time and are often found sleeping on the course. And you can clearly see that these are dogs that are almost all from the same family.
Then there are dogs I’d call semi-stray, which live around residential areas, don’t really belong to anyone, and seek shelter under cars or under shop awnings.
You very often find them at the entrance to small convenience shops, such as 7-Eleven. They stand near the front door. They aren’t aggressive at all and, every time a customer comes in or goes out, they take advantage of a breath of fresh air coming from the air conditioning inside. I think that’s why they stand there, and perhaps also in the hope of being given a bit of food.

Semi-stray dogs

Dogs that hang around near homes like this are met with a somewhat ambiguous attitude from the Thai people. In other words, if the dogs disturb them whilst they’re working or going about their business, Thais tend to shoo them away by shouting ‘Paï Paï’ – which basically means ‘go away’ or ‘get lost’ – or by threatening them with a stick.
But on the other hand, Thai people – and especially Thai women – have a great deal of empathy for these dogs and will feed them.

How do they feed them?

• By leaving leftovers outside their homes, because portions are often very large in Thailand and so Thai people eat but don’t necessarily finish everything on their plates.
• Or when they go to buy something from a street food stall. I’ve quite often seen (mainly) Thai women who, for example, go to buy 10 skewers for their family but then buy 11 or 12, and give the two extra ones to the dogs waiting around the street food stall.

Dogs on the road

Respect for animals is deeply ingrained here; the vast majority of Thais are Buddhist, though they are not vegan. They eat animals and kill them for food, but they have a great deal of respect for all living beings. I recently witnessed a rather astonishing scene: a car stopped right in the middle of a major road, risking being hit by the car behind, to give a large snake time to cross. Sometimes it’s a monitor lizard. This also explains why very few dogs are hit by cars on the roads. It’s not uncommon for dogs to be sleeping on the road, and cars will swerve, give them a wide berth, drive past them, slow down, or sometimes give a very brief honk of the horn – but in any case, they take great care around these animals on the road. In my opinion, it’s even less dangerous for a dog to cross the road than it is for a pedestrian in Thailand.

Developments

Why can we hope to consign the phrase ‘stray dogs are a scourge in Thailand’ to the past?
Because in recent years, the government has really taken the problem seriously, working in partnership with charities and foundations, as well as veterinary schools. Spaying and neutering centres have been set up with increasing frequency. Here in the Hua Hin area, there are two – at least two that I’ve identified. And these centres run dog trapping campaigns.

To give an example, on the golf course at the Pranburi military camp, which I visit regularly, there is a large population of dogs, some of which roam around the golf course’s tee or around the small bar there, hoping that customers will give them food.
But others, as I mentioned earlier, really do live in packs in the forest surrounding the golf course.

Last year, there was a neutering campaign at this golf course. All these dogs were lured with drugged food. Obviously, there was no question of putting any of them down, but they were captured and neutered en masse. The authorities hope to have neutered them all. What is certain is that this year I haven’t seen any puppies.

So, of course, it will take time to regulate the population because the adult dogs need to grow old and die. But if these neutering campaigns continue, we can still hope that, within a few years, we’ll see far fewer stray dogs in Thailand.