After temple-favorite and very friendly Duk-Dik suffered a rather bizarre and rare tail infection we had to pick her up, surgically remove a portion of her tail, and then keep her for a while before returning her home to her temple.
The entire process was pretty easy, but the hard part was the fact that we couldn't really allow Duk Dik to get too accustomed to our care or even allow her to socialize with our resident pets here at our shelter in Krabi. The reasons for this are rooted in experience and it has to do with our inability to permanently re-house her, and therefore we need to always feel as though she is a guest, not a new resident. Dogs function like this and the last thing we want to have happen is for our "patients" to feel like they need to run back here to be with their new friends because in that travel it is very likely that some sort of new injury or even death can occur on the roads.
When we got her back to her temple we were careful to establish that this is her home, and this included giving premium food that is given to her by her caretakers there. In this case it was one of the resident monks who looks after her like all monks do at temples throughout the Kingdom of Thailand. This is important because she needs to see him and the other monks as her caretakers, not us.
When we drop dogs back off at the home that we borrowed them from, we are always a bit nervous when we open the transport kennel. We want them to run towards their old stomping ground, not towards us. That is exactly what happened and after the monk offered her some premium lunch, she almost immediately went to sleep on a cool tiles area that we were informed is her relax area during the day.
This is the ideal result from these sorts of rescues. It's not like we are distant or cold towards here when she was staying with us, but we do make a point to not make the dogs and cats that stay with us to feel as though we are their new owners. Perhaps this seems like a bit too much dog psychology but I can assure you, after a decade of doing this, that dogs can quickly become attached to anyone that is providing them with care and we have had situations where these dogs will travel vast distances attempting to get back to us rather than stay where they are. Because of this it is important that upon their return the caretakers are the ones providing food, water, and shelter. We always leave plenty of food as well as our phone numbers should any problems arise.
We have toyed with the idea of putting tracking devices on dogs that have been recently returned to their homes but thus far it hasn't become necessary.
Duk Dik has made a full recovery and no longer messes with her tail that was operated on during her near 3 week stay with us. She can return to her life at the temple where she has spent most of her life and it was nice to see the smiles on the faces of the monks when she was returned. She truly loves them and it looks like that feeling is mutual.
Another success story in the books!
If you would like to see how you can help out or simply spread the word, please visit our website at
http://krabianimalwelfare.org
Krabi Animal Welfare is a charity run entirely by volunteers and are a registered non-profit organization in Thailand and the U.K.. We aim to relieve the pain and suffering of dogs and cats within Krabi Province.
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