Sick of stray dogs on the way to work? Fed up with roving mongrels barking at you on your way home? Be thankful for those dogs, because if they weren’t around, they’d be replaced by rats or cats… or pigs… or monkeys.
An interesting report in the Gazette a couple of weeks back suggested that dogs in Thailand are an “ecological phenomenon”. They live and die on the streets, forming their own dog communities and abiding by their own rules.
Dogs are, apparently, the largest scavengers and predators that can coexist with humans in an urban environment. Stray dogs in Thailand eat rats. They chase monkeys and they consume human garbage, according to the report.
While you won’t find many monkeys in Bangkok, in other parts of Thailand there are thriving monkey populations; Lopburi springs to mind. While those monkeys make look cute, they can be nasty little buggers and will attack humans just to get to a bag of potato chips.
I was told a story recently about a man whose son’s testicle was ripped off by a monkey when the boy had dropped a peanut. After I heard that story I vowed never to feed monkeys in Thailand again – let the stray dogs at them.
I haven’t seen many wild pigs wandering round the streets of Phuket, but I have come across a few cats. I can imagine nothing duller than a world plagued by armies of stray cats.
In the article, the author asserts that if the dog population were to diminish, cats would step up and replace them three to one, although I don’t know where this statement comes as there is no evidence presented.
Stray dogs used to be dealt with in places like Bangkok by poisoning the creatures. The practice is no longer employed “officially”. According to the Soi Dog Foundation, the most effective way to deal with Thailand’s street dogs is to sterilize them and keep the streets clear of garbage.
What’s your take on soi dogs in Thailand? Are they a problem? Would you be surprised to find out that some organizations euthanize dogs on the quiet?
Techno’ tags: Thailand, Bangkok, Street dogs