The Tiger Cave Temple is one of the most famous temple complexes in all of Thailand. Every year thousands upon thousands of people come to this sacred place to perhaps make their way up the nearly 1500 steps to the peak of the mountain to visit the Buddha's footprint at the top as well as the caves below that were meant to have housed tigers at some point in the past. The tigers are long gone but now there are hundreds of dogs and cats who otherwise wouldn't have a home. It is one of the largest unofficial animal sanctuaries in the country and we pay special attention to it.
The animals here are easier for us to monitor than other places because of all the monks and visitors. The dogs especially receive plenty of food and attention and the cats are not far behind. This is one of those rare places where dogs and cats coexist peacefully and there are very few instances of violence between the species as well as between dogs with other dogs.
We have had some other difficulties here lately though as the push to modernize the complex and expand it has resulted in a lot of stress for the animals that live here. Buildings are being torn down and replaced and while some care is taken to ensure that the animals are not harmed in this process it is not a priority for the workers, which is a strange notion to have at a temple of all places.
Many animals have seen their hiding places or places to get out of the rain destroyed and it has been quite stressful for a lot of them. Therefore we have been spending as much time as possible here to try to keep the animals at ease.
while it is impossible for me or anyone else to know if this is true or not, I believe that this particular cat had its home destroyed when this otherwise unused building was torn down to make way for something that hasn't been built yet. I try to hold my tongue because I know this modernization and expansion has been a plan in the works for quite some time but I just wish a bit more care had been put on making sure that replacement places would be made available for the animals before they tore everything down. I guess maybe I feel more sympathy towards the animals here because of my position in the "industry."
It really wouldn't surprise me if some of the animals have been scared away because of the noise and destruction and that is a shame because they don't really have anywhere else to go. My hope is that when they get hungry they will work up the nerve to come back and that the other animals will remember them and be happy to see them and welcome them back.
The biggest issue that we face here or at any other temple in Thailand is that normally this work is done at a discounted or free rate to honor the temple and therefore the work never happens quickly. They time that is donated is done on an availability basis and we can't really complain about it being done slowly.
We will work to make sure that all the dogs and cats are cared for as much as possible during these stressful times and hopefully they construction will be quieter than the demolition was.
I go out here at least once a week, often more frequently to check up on all of our 4-legged friends. For the most part they are always in high spirits when they hear and see my truck because here comes the guy with the snacks!
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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