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From New York Times, November 2, 2014, Dog Meat Trade in Thailand Is Under Pressure and May Be Banned:

“Dogs are man’s best friend,” said Kawai Thanthongdee, 66, who has been eating dogs since he was young and is Mr. Praprut’s father-in-law. “But some dogs deserve to be killed.” And eaten, apparently.

This is the reality into which Khao was born and in which she lived for the first few years of her life. She was saved from the hammer and knife when she was rescued by Soi Dog Foundation in Thailand and brought over by her sponsor. She's been in Toronto for three weeks now and despite her mid-length coat, shivers in the damp November chill as she's still adjusting to the weather and the first winter of her life.

I walk with her a bit but in the short time I have, I can hardly get her to even look at me, especially with the camera lens staring at her face. She's a very shy girl. It's no surprise, given her past, that she's a little wary of strangers.

Especially men, her foster, tells me. I look at her peaking out from between her foster's feet. Khao's obviously bonded with Farah.

How long did that take? I ask.

Overnight, Farah replies.

Such is the trust inherent in Khao towards humans, waiting to express itself, despite all experience telling her to do otherwise.




If you're interested in meeting or adopting Khao, she will be at Kennel Cafe (295 Roncesvalles Av, Toronto, ON M6R 2M3 (416) 531-3177) today, Sunday November 22, in the afternoon between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. You can also call her adoption coordinator, Lynda, at 416 538 8559, email: garden538@yahoo.ca.



1 Comment to “Khao”

  1. Anonymous says:

    My heart just breaks as I wipe tears away from my face. Khao is so beautiful and she so deserves a loving kind hearted and patient owner who will show her she's safe and that there's people out there who care and love animals and don't want to see animals suffer in such a malicious horrible way. I'll pray for her and I do wish her all the love and happiness in the world. She's is such a beautiful and special girl. Good luck Khao.

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A request

The reason for this blog is to help get specific dogs adopted from TAS but equally important is to try to normalize the idea of shelter dogs being just as good and just as desirable as any other dogs including those which are regularly merchandised by backyard breeders, puppy millers and those few remaining pet store owners who still feel a need to sell live animals. The single greatest stigma shelter animals still face is the belief that shelter animals are substandard animals. Anyone who has had enough experience with shelter animals knows this is untrue but the general public hasn't had the same experiences you've had. They see a nice dog photo in a glossy magazine and too many of them would never think of associating that dog with a dog from a shelter. After all, no one abandons perfectly good dogs, right? Unfortunately, as we all know, perfectly good dogs are abandoned all the time.

The public still too often associates shelter dogs with images of beat up, sick, dirty, severely traumatized animals and while we definitely sometimes see victims such as these, they are certainly not the majority and, regardless, even the most abused animals can very often be saved and made whole again.

Pound Dogs sometimes discusses the sad histories some of the dogs have suffered. For the most part, though, it tries to present the dogs not as victims but as great potential family members. The goal is to raise the profiles of animals in adoption centers so that a potential pet owner sees them as the best choice, not just as the charity choice.

So, here's the favour I'm asking. Whenever you see a dog picture on these pages you think is decent enough, I'd like you to consider sharing it on Facebook or any other social media sites you're using (I know many of you do this already and thank you for that). And when you share it, please mention that the dog in the photo is a shelter dog like so many other shelter dogs waiting for a home. If we can get even five percent of the pet buying public to see shelter dogs differently, to see how beautiful they are and how wonderful they are, and to consider shelter dogs as their first choice for a new family member, we can end the suffering of homeless pets in this country.
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