These 50 Dogs Had Their Lives Improved This Week

Firefighting on the ground

If you follow me on this mission of saving street dogs you’ll know I like to think about the big picture. We now sterilise 6000 dogs a month in 3 countries and what we do with Happy Doggo is already having immense impact. An incredible 30,000 operations on dogs this year alone.

Having said that from a personal perspective I feel like I see less of that impact. I miss interacting with the very sickest dogs and seeing their lives changed for the better.

As luck would have it this week I got pulled into helping dogs on the ground here in Koh Samui and we were able to directly impact the lives of 50 dogs…

Fixing 30+ Sick Dogs

On Thursday evening I found an area that needed urgent attention. It needed 6 of us to go and find emergency solutions…

• Initially went to help 14-16 sick dogs I’d spotted

• Turned out there were up to 40 dogs with 20 of them ill or suffering

• 3 Dogs needed immediate vet trips

• One puppy had to come in to stay with us as he had pneumonia

• One puppy had a wound full of maggots who also had to come in

• We were able to give medicines to 30 dogs

• We have to go back to vaccinate, sterilise and fix more issues this week

• The total cost of this clean up will be around $2000

While this was a challenging mission the sheer buzz of helping so many dogs and interacting with the locals was why I do this. We saved lives instantly just by being there. This video sums up the madness.

An Old Friend Needed Help

Shaq is probably the most visual and scariest rescues we’ve ever had. The poor dog had a massive basketball size growth on his neck last year when I first found him. It took 2 operations and a couple of months staying with us at Happy Doggo Land but we got him fixed.

Unfortunately I spotted him in bad shape again on Friday. We brought him in today and he is going to be treated for bacterial infections, bad skin and some fungal growth.

I’m not sure who was happier. Shaq to be back in his little suite or me just seeing his lovely big face.

18 Residents Who Need Special Care

Our rescue is very small with about 15-20 dogs at the very most staying with us. We do this as we don’t want to “collect” 100s of dogs and just keep them here. I personally believe in fixing the core problem and trying to help the dogs on the streets.

Having said that its so useful to be able to treat the seriously ill…

• Leo will need a 3rd operation on his leg this week

• Larry is a complicated dog who is having every test imaginable

• Jennifer Anniston has fairly catastrophic blood results and kidney issues.

• We have 8 dogs like Candy, Faith, Pheonix and Coco Chanel who are all recovering from major health issues and heading to their forever homes soon.

Sterilising Hot Spots

I was super excited last week about announcing we had sterilised 90-95% of the island. In some ways even I stupidly thought “OK we are done here now”. I should have known better.

• We found 15-20 more dogs in one hot spot that need sterilising

• We have them booked in to be done ASAP

• These street packs could grow to 50-100 within months if we didn’t act

Having the systems in place to tackle this head on is so important. All the dogs in this picture could start mating soon. With our intervention that won’t happen.

Time For Some Additional Tools To Be Rolled Out

When in the thick of it this week I started making decisions internally. Sterilising is great to get numbers down and we can adopt out a small handful of dogs and fix health issues on the street. The truth is that is just isn’t enough.

Those tools alone will not fix this problem. It is now becoming abundantly clear to me that we need to roll out the following…

• Educational programmes. We need to get locals on board with what we are going. That has already started with Thai staff and working in the communities. We are struggling for manpower and resources to roll our a full educational programme right now in 2024 but we need to do something. If we don’t it’s just a constant uphill battle

• Governmental initiatives. I need to find ways to work with the authorities. That can be logistical help, enforcing existing laws or full on partnerships.

We are sterilising 6000 dogs a month, have adopted 36 dogs out this year, we have Happy Doggo land and we feed 1000 dogs a day. Keeping all that going isn’t easy but without education and government support we won’t fix this. We’ll find a way to get it done.

The Mental Toll

Although the days are long, I don’t find the physical effort super hard. What is incredibly challenging is the mental side of this mission. Anybody who has had a sick pet knows how worrying it can be. You would do anything to ease their pain but you often feel helpless.

I have that multiplied by 20-30 dogs at any given time. Finding the money, finding treatment plans, worrying if they’ll make it through the night and fretting about them out in the weather. The list is endless.

We have dogs everywhere right now. From the little puppy with pneumonia in the office to Larry getting his head stuck and in his door and nearly dying. There are very few times when the brain is not whirring at 100 miles an hour with worry.

If it reads like a crazy week that is because it was. I’m sitting here on Sunday night writing this with my mind buzzing and longing for sleep but I feel nothing but pure joy and happiness. I love dogs and I feel privileged to be able to dedicate my life to this.

I never lose sight of the fact that many people are dreading work tomorrow. That so many would give anything to live the life I do. To drive around on a scooter saving dogs. To find a life of meaning. I don’t take that for granted.

Wherever you are in the world thank you for taking the time to read this and for the ongoing support. I couldn’t do a tenth of this without you.

Have a lovely Sunday.

Big Love

Niall

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