Adopting From Soi Dog Foundation - Williams Story
Adopting from the Soi Dog Foundation is such a wonderful thing to do, and it is important that people consider doing this instead of purchasing a puppy from dog breeders in the UK. This article is the emotional story of William written by his lovely owner Tracie.
The Illegal trade for dog meat from Thailand to Vietnam, is destined for Hanoi's dog meat restaurants. Every single stage of this illegal horrific industry, from sourcing to transit, to preparation for death inflicts - the most unimaginable pain and suffering on the dogs.
This is the truck William was found on
William was caught by dog smugglers and forced into a small wire chicken crate with numerous other dogs, then stacked on to a lorry. Some crates have up to 12 dogs crammed in and are unable to move, many are injured or die from suffocation long before they reach Vietnam. The dogs that survive the transportation are tortured in the most horrific ways imaginable. Vietnamese believe that pain produces adrenalin, which in turn tenderises the meat.
Luckily the truck William was on was intercepted by campaigners and the dogs were taken to Buriram in the north east of Thailand, which have purpose built shelters for the vast majority of dogs saved from the illegal dog meat trade. The shelter is a Thai government shelter but Soi Dog paid for its construction, and also pays for all the food and medical treatment given to the dogs .The shelter homes at least one and a half thousand dogs, all saved from the dog meat trade.
This was where a UK charity called K9 Angels saw William and some of his friends and secured sponsors for them and advertised for fosters /adopters in the UK.
My friend had been doing some fostering for K9 angels, who mainly rescue from Romania but had seen the plight of the dogs from the dog meat trade and wanted to help. I had been helping with fosters and then saw an appeal for William, as his friends had all been secured adopters, but he was the last one and nobody seemed to want him. So I said I would foster him. William and his friends stayed with a Thai foster for a short time (during which he had all his vet checks immunisations and was neutered) before traveling to Soi Dog to complete their 3 months quarantine before traveling to their new homes.
Whilst at Soi Dog a UK couple had been volunteering for six weeks and during this time they had agreed to be 'flight volunteers' for William and his friends which included two dogs who the couple where adopting also. During their stay they helped walk, play and care for them all.
In December 2012 it was time to start their journey to their new lives in the UK accompanied by the flight volunteers. They flew to Amsterdam where they had a stop over at a volunteer’s home, time to eat, short walks and rest overnight before they continued on their journey. The next part of their journey was by ferry to Harwich port where their new family would be waiting for them.
I met William on the 17th of December 2012; it was very emotional for all the families and the volunteers that had gotten to know them during their time with them. Paperwork and passports were handed over and then we parted with our new family member. I fell in love instantly.
Introductions where gradual with my other two dogs and two cats, and William was given time to habituate to his new loving environment, which must have been hard for him first of all. However, he had a safe sleeping place, and a new loving family, and most important - a new life. He was one of the very few lucky ones.
Now he lives safe in the Staffordshire countryside, enjoying his walks, with his new fresh life with his loving family.
All of would like to give a big thank you to Tracie for sharing Williams story with us. It is truly beautiful of how his life has been turned around, and we need more people like you to help adopt these beautiful animals.
If you would like to consider adopting a dog from the Soi Dog Foundation, please click HERE for more info.
Here at Help For Paws we sell products which help raise money to donate to the Soi Dog Foundation, so that they can continue to rehabilitate more dogs and cats. To view all our products and purchase, please click HERE. Every purchase makes a difference.
If you have rescued a dog or cat and would like to share your story, please get in touch. Our email is hello@helpforpaws.co.uk
