Article Category - Animal Corner

LOCAL business people, residents and environmentalists have objected to plans to develop the Monkeyland tourist attraction on Tanan Island, off Chalong pier. Their concerns were raised at a special conference hosted by the Phuket Governor’s Office and the Department of Special Investigation at the Royal Phuket City Hotel on November 3. The conference was chaired by Phuket Governor Smith Palawatvichai, and Tavee Saudklaung, the president of the DSI.

In recent weeks we’ve received some letters from the pet loving public who seem to have issues with “unwanted” behaviours in both dogs and cats. So, in the coming issues, I’ll be outlining some of these issues and how you can counteract them. First of all, and this is quite important. It’s worth stating that cats are, obviously, not dogs.

Intrepid Post pet reporter, Sniffer, gets the bottom of the street dog scene with this in-depth interview with former house pet, Copernicus.

Intrepid Post pet reporter, Sniffer, gets to the bottom of the street dog scene with this in-depth interview with former house pet, Copernicus.

Sniffing friend’s bums and stranger’s crotches and urinating wherever they please might seem like an average day in the life of a dog. But, thanks to Sniffer, we have the inside scoop on life as a Phuket street dog.

Many of my friends have farang as pets. I know people say they can be dangerous around the house, but I think they’re cute. Can you give me any tips on how best to care for a farang? What about licensing? If I wanted to import an exotic farang, would I need a special license to breed it? Is there any import duties involved?

Naked to the world, and totally lost in the moment, the strapping young lad had his prey exactly where he wanted her – on all fours, gagging for some action and slap bang in the middle of the road. I kid you not when I say that cars, bikes and nervous pedestrians had to swerve to avoid the happy couple.

I love field clinics. They are a huge aspect of the work of PAWS – both in terms of sterilising and treating the animals, and in helping to educate people about animal management. They can be fun, they can be heart breaking and they always have their fair share of interesting moments.

Dogs and cats do not have to be enemies and they can be the best of friends. In fact, they certainly don’t naturally hate each other. The problem is that most dogs love to chase and most cats will run if they see a large, hairy hound hurtling towards them at speed.

Last issue's column covered some of the reasons your dog may be barking and here are a few more and a few suggestions as to how you keep the peace with your neighbours.

Dogs like to bark. It’s a totally natural thing for them to do and in most cases it doesn’t cause any problems. However, sometimes a dog may bark a lot, disturbing neighbours, keeping you awake at night or frightening visitors to your home. You don’t want to get into trouble because of your dog’s barking – so what can you do?

We are all affected from time to time by boredom. The same is true for your dog. Boredom doesn’t seem like a serious complaint in itself, but it can lead to all kinds of unwanted and antisocial behaviour. Most dogs need to be busy. If they are not given enough to do in a pet home they will find other, often destructive, ways to amuse themselves.

Sometimes housetraining a puppy or newly adopted dog can seem difficult and very frustrating. However, many puppies and dogs can be housetrained in around two weeks, as long as you stick to two basic rules: Provide your dog with as many opportunities as possible to get it right (the more times he is rewarded for going to the toilet in the right place, the quicker he will learn) and ignore any mistakes that he makes during this training.

Much like the common cold in humans, cat flu is a common disease in cats of all ages, but tends to be particularly severe in young kittens and old cats. It is caused by a number of infectious agents, but the majority of cases are caused by two specific viruses (FHV-1 and FCV for you smart ones.)

Being able identify symptoms of common diseases could prove to be the difference between life and death for your pet. There are a number of diseases that can infect your pet, and some more harmful than others – but they all have various signs and symptoms, for which you should always be on the look out.

If you were asked for a word to describe a three-legged dog, the most likely choice would be “disabled”. This weeks column is dedicated to a most remarkable dog called Sasha. When she was two-months old she had a leg amputated due to a serious injury. Most of her young life was spent either at the bottom of the pecking order on the streets, due to her injury or in and out of clinics and surgery.

There are times when a journalist has to put one’s life at risk to report on various issues, to venture into unknown territory, face one’s own demons – all in the name of promoting a specific cause.

When it comes to Animal Management there are a number of terms bandied around to the general public that relate, in some way, to the way they can help.

Vivienne Cheffy AKA “the cat lady of Phi Phi” recently returned for her 3rd visit to the island since the Tsunami, and was dismayed to discover how many new kittens there were on the island. She’d heard through friends about PAWS mobile clinic in Phuket, and asked if they would be able to help her on her next trip to Phi Phi island.

Welcome to Animal Corner! The place to learn about the work of PAWS and ways in which you can help.