Getting a Dog or other Pet on Koh Phangan

This article is mainly to give advice on what to think about before you make the leap of owning a pet on Koh Phangan.

It is usually the canines on this island that people simply fall in love with. You may have found one sleeping on your balcony in a morning or one may just decide to visit you now and again.

If you feed it once it will definitely be back!  Its very tempting to adopt a dog or cat on this island but there are many things to think about before you make this decision.

First of all if you are a tourist here and have no plans on living here our advice is do not entertain the idea of owning a pet no matter how cute and adorable they are - When you leave who is going to look after it?

There are many strays on this island that have simply been abandoned and the wonderful PACS do so much good to take care of stray animals and they also try to rehome them as much as they can.

If you adopt a dog or cat and simply leave the island, you will not only leave a loving animal that relies on you confused, lost and bewildered, you will also put more pressure on the organisations such as PACS who are busy enough all year around.

This sounds negative but even people with the best intentions to stay on the island by working legally or setting up their own business here find that things can change that you have not planned for.

This means you will have to leave the island for your own personal and obviously important reasons which are unavoidable. Therefore what is the cost to take your pet back to your own country? And what are your country’s quarantine laws as your pet may not be allowed to go back to your home Country?

However if you have your plan sorted to stay on the island there is nothing better than having a loving fun pet to come home to every day.

Like anywhere in the world if you own a dog or a cat then you should make plans to spend at least three hours every day with it. It will love you for it and it will make your house a home.

There are breeders here, there and everywhere but like the rest of the world if you can adopt a pet from a shelter you will probably be saving its life and this means other stray dogs can have the attention they deserve to be happy and get heatlhy and find a home of their own.

Many dogs are outdoor dogs here and they are obviously very territorial and quite frankly, can be greedy little furballs. Make sure your neighbours will be ok for you to own an animal that might stray onto their property and have respect for them as they may not want your dog on their garden looking for food.

Dogs love chasing chickens and not just cats and if they catch and kill one you will find yourself with a well deserved bill for the chicken.

Dogs and cats can be sterilised on the island and although this will cost you a small amount of money it will be cheaper than having a litter of maybe up to eight or nine babies to look after!

There are vets on the island for any problems you think you may have with your animal and again remember that this is an added cost you may suddenly be faced with if your pet falls ill.

Here at Phanganist HQ we have a number of dogs that keep us safe and fully entertained all day every day and we cannot imagine life without them! So if you are staying on the island and you can be sure you are not leaving then please adopt a dog or cat  from a shelter as there will be plenty of clean, disease free, sterilized dogs and cats ready to make your home their home and be a part of your family.

Apart from Dogs and Cats there are other animals we know of that are kept as pets such as birds and reptiles but does this animal deserve to live in a cage for the rest of its life? Make your own decision on this one.