Tuesday 26 December 2017

Sausage is on the mend!

If you live in Old Town, you know Sausage, a little tubby, long bodied dog with knock knees. She is a gentle soul and is very sociable, always popping into local bars and restaurants to say hi.

Unfortunately last week she had a fight with a car and lost, her back leg was badly broken and she had injured her front legs. A good Samaritan from Old Town rushed her to Lanta Animal Welfare, the only vet on the island, for urgent treatment

Sausage has never had a home, she has never been locked up and she has never had so many dogs and humans around her. She was also badly injured and old. She was terrified and in a lot of pain.
Sausage in the much hated collar
I knew Sausage from when Nick and I used to live in Old Town and every time she saw me her funny little tail would go crazy when I called her name. So as Lanta Animal Welfare is only a couple of minutes walk from Mook Lanta Eco Resort, I paid her a visit. Despite clearly being in a lot of pain, Sausage wagged her tail when she heard my voice. I went and sat with her and had to stop myself from crying, she was shaking with fear and I was told that despite the volunteers trying to show her affection she was not responding to them. So I made a pact with myself to see her everyday.

The second day she responded again to me but was still in a lot of pain. On the third, as I arrived she was going into surgery to have the leg removed. The vets allowed me to stay with her till she fell asleep. 

The next day I went to see her and she was very heavily drugged, there was no recognition of my voice, but I gave her some water and chicken broth and she started to respond. The fourth day she was remarkably herself and was up on her feet, so I took her outside for some fresh air. On day five they had moved her to a bigger kennel and when she heard my voice she whined for me! I found her and she demanded to go for a walk with me and even had a poo! Which got a round of applause from the volunteers! (it is important sign with sick dogs!)
Sausage is walking well on 3 legs
But what is truly wonderful is that the wonderful people from Old Town have offered her a safe home to stay so she is safe when she leaves Lanta Animal Welfare and they have offered to pay for her stay at Lanta Animal Welfare.

Lanta Animal Welfare is a charity that survives only on donations. Their mission is to improve the lives of animals on Koh Lanta through sterilisation, veterinary services and rehoming. They have transformed Koh Lanta which was over run with many wild dogs who were in poor condition and badly treated, to an island with a significantly smaller wild dog population with many fewer cases of cruelty. The founder, Junie Kovacs, came to the island, opened a cookery school, Time for Lime, and started to take in poorly treated cats and dogs. This grew from a small shelter to the number 1 thing to do in the Krabi Province according to TripAdvisor!

If you come to Koh Lanta, go to Lanta Animal Welfare, eat in Kitty City, take the free tour and maybe take a dog for a walk. But please donate generously as they are vital to the island.

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