Year of the Dog on Koh Phangan

Although we are in Thailand you may see that there are parts of Chinese culture celebrated here. Chinese Temples and the Chinese New Year are just some of what is celebrated here on Koh Phangan and this is because there is a large community of Chinese here in the Country. Chinese people account for roughly 14 percent of the Thai population and it is also the oldest, most prominent, and best integrated overseas Chinese community.

This brings us to the Chinese culture of each year being an animal, there is a repeating cycle of 12 years, with each year being represented by an animal. Traditionally these zodiac animals were used to date the years.

This year 2018 is the year of the Dog (officially beginning on February 16th).

Anyone who visits Koh Phangan will know that we have a lot of dogs and of course we love them all but there are a lot, many strays who fend for themselves on a daily basis, those without homes or owners. Luckily for this beautiful island there is a wonderful organisation called PACS (Phangan Animal Care for Strays) who are a non profit organisation providing nursing and hospital care for stray, temple and wild animals that need medical assistance.

Seeing as it is the year of the Dog what better time for us to help this organisation and the stray dog population of Koh Phangan. There is so much more you can do for these lovely dogs we know you all fall in love with when you’re here…

PACS have a Mission,

1) To keep Koh Phangan rabies free through vaccination.

2) To control the dog and cat population through neutering stray animals and promoting the neutering of owned animals.

3) To provide free nursing care to the islands stray, temple and wild animals.

4) To educate the public about responsible pet ownership.

The main issue for them and the dogs (and cats) of the island is funding the neutering, medicine and vaccinations. PACS rely solely on donations, fundraisers and volunteers so even if you can’t help with money you can always help with your time whilst here.

If you ever wondered why Koh Phangan has such a high number of stray dogs then here is why…
“The tourist influx to Koh Phangan has resulted in a greater availability of food, and with many animal-loving tourists intermittently feeding and caring for the animals around them, the population has been boosted to unnatural numbers”.

And the problems that come from this…
“The stress of fighting for survival in this overpopulated environment results in many injuries which quickly fester in the humid, tropical climate.

The dense population allows for rapid transmission of diseases; the most obvious of these are skin infestations, which leave the majority of animals severely itchy, bald and bleeding. These wounds, like injuries caused from fighting, will often progress very quickly to deeper, life-threatening infections, which is also a common occurrence in uncastrated male dogs fighting over females and territory. The busy island roads have claimed the lives of many animals and those who do survive these incidents have to endure life-threatening transportation, often bleeding and in pain, to PACS' hospital where a long road to recovery awaits them.

In order to minimise the suffering of the island's strays, it is imperative that the population is controlled humanely through sterilisation”.

Taken from the PACS Website where you can find lots more information and apply to volunteer or donate.

Help the stray dogs on Koh Phangan during what will be an amazing ‘year of the Dog’ in 2018!