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To the ambassador of The Kingdom of Thailand
Laan Copes van Cattenburg 123
2585 EZ Den Haag
Phone: 070-3455444
E-mail: comhague@euronet.nl

Royal Thai Embassy
Square Du Val De La Cambre 2
1050 Brussel
Phone: 02-6406810
E-mail: thaibxl@pophost.eunet.be


Dear Mr. Ambassador,

I have just learned about the terrible condition and treatment of the stray dogs in Thailand, I am sure you are aware of some of these conditions.

It is hard for anyone who has not visited Thailand to understand the full scale of the stray dog problem. It is not just that hundreds of thousands of dogs are living on the streets (Bangkok alone has a conservative estimate of 150,000 strays) but it is the condition in which they are forced to live. Frightened, riddled with parasites, hairless with mange, most are hungry, many are starving, and hundreds live with fractured bones or are paralyzed because of car accidents. It is a national tragedy, and adding to Thailand's disgrace is the fact there are no humane shelters, no effective SPCA-type organizations as yet where animals can be taken or abuse reported, no well-run Government adoption facilities, no animal rights, no sensible laws governing pet ownership and certainly no animal law enforcement, no educational programs or government campaigns, and sadly euthanasia is practiced only rarely due to religious beliefs.

Shamefully, Thailand numbers among the top 10 countries labeled internationally as ' most cruel to animals'. This label may have stuck due to Thailand's lack of action, funding and know-how in tackling animal issues rather than by active abuse, but it is nevertheless harmful to the country's image. Gratefully though, in 2001 Thailand's dog-lovers received a large bone from Bangkok's new Governor, Mr. Samak Suntornavej: there were to be no more mass exterminations (cruelly administered by strychnine poisoning). Instead mass neutering was proposed with an initial target of 100,000 sterilizations per year in Bangkok alone. The policy is well meaning, but in practice the program is rather barbaric. Meeting targets is often the drive behind the daily sterilizations at the Bangkok Metropolitan's Din Daeng Dog Pound, not the welfare and well-being of the dogs. No funding is available for medicines to aid recovery, no treatment given for illnesses, no isolation facilities for dogs obviously suffering from contagious diseases (distemper, parvo virus, mange) and no vaccinations other than for rabies. The dogs are piled onto wheelbarrows, dumped in holding pens, and left to lie in their own urine, blood and faeces. Many trample over other sedated dogs as they stumble back into consciousness. Not surprisingly, many wounds get infected. Some dogs die. The program will have to be radically altered before any civilized society can accept it as an effective and humane solution to Thailand's street dog problem.

Additionally, in the Northern and Northeastern part of Thailand, dogs are traded for their meat. Specifically, Tharae Market in Sakon Nakorn, has long been known as a source for dog flesh. Before these dogs meet an extremely painful death, they are caught and transported using the most cruel methods - crammed together with other dogs in very small cages, left for days without food and water; they are moved with sharp hooks causing enormous suffering . Often they are beaten to death with stones or other horrible tools. Many times, dogs are skinned alive in order to salvage the skin for leather used in durable products like golf gloves.

Animals, including dogs and therefore also stray dogs, have the same feelings as people do, both physically and mentally - no living creature in the world must be neglected and mistreated like the stray dogs are in Thailand. Domesticated dogs as we know them today are here because we, the people, have created them that way - to work for us -- many years ago. By doing so, by integrating them into our ways of life, we have taken away the dogs' ability to hunt for food. Needless to say, it is our responsibility the ensure the dogs' well being! Stray dogs have as much right to humane treatment as other dogs do.

This pain and suffering has to stop. Cruelty to animals and trade in dogs' meat must be outlawed immediately! Please help, your Excellency, and please let us know how we help Thailand give animals a chance and to have the legal right to a healthy, happy life! Please, stop cruelty to animals, including slaughtering of dogs in Thailand!

Yours sincerely,