Lucky

A dog that will change the life of 10,000 others

You meet certain people who change the course of your life, or in my case you meet certain dogs. This little beauty was one of the first I met when I started feeding stray dogs here in Thailand.

She was on the side of the road looking frail, sick and had bad skin but despite all that she had a big grin on her face and her tail was always wagging.

While all the others needed food it was clear she needed a little more help than that to get back on her feet.

I knew that I wanted to help her but being new to this I didn’t know how.

Operation Transformation

After feeding her as often as I could there was some progress but not enough. She would go missing for 2-3 days at a time in the jungle only to reappear looking thin again.

It took me the best part of a week to get her pinned down, get a lend of a car and sort the vet out to see her. The bad news is she has a bunch of stuff wrong with her including…

• Swollen lymph nodes (sign of bigger problems)

• Worms

• Skin issues

• A Liver problem

• Irregular blood levels.

For her to have so much physically wrong with her yet still have such great energy, spirit and verve about her made me realise she was a very special dog. I wrote a thread about her here.

Although the full check up and veterinary treatment is the most important it felt good just to be able to give her a big wash and a collar with a bell on it so I can find her easily.

She Needed A Name

When it came to filling out her name in the vets I had an absolute blank. There are so many dogs to look after that naming them all is tough. Ivor on Twitter suggested Lucky and it fit perfectly.

So she is getting fed on a regular basis, she has had a full medical, has treatment and she now has a name. She still has a long way to go in terms of getting better physically but it is some decent progress. If anything her tail is wagging even harder today.

Scaling Up From Here

I’m obviously cobbling this together and making it up as I go along. I know nothing about veterinary care, sterilizing dogs en masse or other elements needed but thanks to Lucky and others I am learning.

Her vet visit and medication came in at 4500 Baht (€120/$135). When you consider that a typical local salary can be between 10-12,000 Baht per month it is easy to see why many dogs do not get the simple medical care they need and deserve.

I don’t mind doing this for a few dogs and covering the cost of feeding them isn’t super expensive at 500 Baht a day (€13/$15). I can feed 25 a day and look after a handful medically but I would love to do so much more.

The biggest concern is that she is only one dog out of at least 50 I could have picked to do the same for. She is truly lucky in that respect as there are many others out there who will have similar or worse issues.

At least 50 people have messaged me asking to donate to help and that is massively appreciated. I can’t take it at the moment until I get everything in place logistically and make sure I am doing everything correctly. I’m happy to fund this myself for now. With so many dogs to potentially help I will need to scale this up in future and I am educating myself on how and when to do that as quickly as possible.

Lucky Will Be The Dog That Saved 10,000 More

Since I first met her on the 17th of January Lucky has taught me more than she will ever know. She was gentle, patient and willing to learn about being on a lead or in a car for the first time even although she was clearly petrified. We were both well outside our comfort zones!

The first day she serendipitously wandered into my path was a day that changed both of our lives forever. She flashed her grin, wagged her whole body and effectively said to me “get me better and let’s do this”.

Whatever happens and wherever this journey goes she will always be #1

Niall

P.S You can always support by either donating here or just subscribing to this newsletter.