A heartfelt thanks to Mot and Lit!

Kinship Circle and SCAD (Soi-Street Cats & Dogs Of Bangkok) do regular food and rescue runs in SCAD’s truck and a Save Elephant Foundation paddle boat. We bring food to temples, bridges or other elevated sites where countless dogs and cats (not to mention water buffalo, monkeys and other animals) struggle to survive.

SCAD Bangkok’s Mot Waraler Sangkham serves as translator, asking locals about animals. Lit, also with SCAD, is a driver who never loses his cool in long treks through Bangkok traffic to flood zones…even as water laps at truck doors!

During one ride, Mot told Kinship Circle’s Brenda Shoss (on left with Mot in photo above) about Chalee, the childhood dog who inspired Mot’s devotion to animals. When Mot was 8-years old, her mother refused to sterilize Chalee. After each birth, Chalee’s pups were dumped at faraway temples where monks care for strays and drop-offs. Mot grieved each loss and formed an everlasting bond with Chalee.

But Chalee grew aggressive toward everyone else. Mot’s mom eventually took Chalee away too. Mot was inconsolable. Months passed. One day, Chalee staggered into Mot’s yard emaciated, sick, barely able to stand. She’d crossed hundreds of miles to find Mot. Chalee died days later. Mot still cries for her. Yet the dog’s love forever changed their lives. Mot’s mom advocates spay-neuter and no animals are discarded. Mot works for SCAD…and is here in a truck with Kinship Circle, to save forgotten animals in a flood.

Kinship Circle is in Thailand as part of TWP Coalition ⁄ Thailand Animal Flood Aid…and also works at an emergency shelter founded by Save Elephant Foundation, whose volunteers care for some 200 animals with Kinship Circle and SCAD Bangkok.

The black dog is very thin, her ribcage evident. One hip joint protrudes at a sharp angle, similar to the dislocated hip of Mabel, a dog already at the emergency shelter.

When Kinship Circle director Brenda Shoss approaches her, the timid dog draws back. Many curious dogs crowd around her, so she retreats to a cement corner on the temple patio. But after gentle coaxing, she is scooped into a firm hold, her legs dangling with no pressure to hip joints.

The skinny girl is carefully lowered into a cage. She is too bewildered to notice the treat we give her. Still, she is calm in congested Bangkok traffic during the long and bumpy truck ride to the shelter.

Photo: Kinship Circle, Thailand 2011 / Cara Blome

We locate a little Shepherd mix with a lacerated paw. She holds her leg in a distinct zigzag shape, unable to bear weight on the paw. Still, she is a runner.

The dog leads volunteers in a chase, barricading herself behind a family of water buffalo — two bulls, a cow and calf — who graze at water’s edge. She is a tan and black dash between the bull’s thick legs. Then a peek. A few steps toward us. Gone again.

Kinship Circle’s Cheri Deatsch suggests we encircle her from all sides. The dog darts beneath a low wooden table, enclosed on some sides, buried under mounds of hay. Kinship’s Brenda Shoss, along with Corrina, a Singapore veterinarian, belly crawl under the table on either side of the injured pup.

Brenda’s slip lead nearly encircles the dog’s neck, but needs a tug from the opposite side to complete its loop. Corrina reaches through a tiny opening under the table to pull the yellow twine…and the dog is finally leashed!

Safely caged, she settles in for transport to the emergency shelter, where U.K. veterinarian Emma Sant Cassia can examine and treat her wound. Like other flood rescues, she’ll enter SCAD Bangkok’s foster-adoption program or live at Save Elephant Foundation’s sanctuary in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Photos: Kinship Circle, Thailand 2011 / Cara Blome

The next rescue is complex. A furless dog with advanced mange is aggressive and fearful. We have a large net attached to a pole to catch him. Despite his leathery black skin and decrepit appearance, the dog is strong and agile — easily jumping between ledges, splashing into floodwaters and crawling ashore beyond reach.

Lit, a SCAD Bangkok volunteer, eyes the dog closely. With a perfectly timed swoosh, Lit throws the net over the dog. Much thrashing ensues. This dog has endured hunger, mange and floodwaters. He does not understand we are here to ease his struggles.

Part two of the capture involves placing a netted dog inside a cage, removing the net and securing the cage door. Kinship Circle’s Beth Schmidt, Cheri Deatsch and Brenda Shoss ultimately crate the dog with careful angling and quick reflexes.

This stubborn boy joins the Shepherd mix, black dog, and terrier mix with the bloody neck gash at the shelter in Bang Pu. We situate them near each other, to soothe anxiety with familiar faces and smells.

Photos: Kinship Circle, Thailand 2011 / Cara Blome