Soi Dog Foundation

SOI DOG FOUNDATION

What They Do

Founded in 2003, Soi Dog Foundation is celebrating their 20th anniversary of helping animals in need. They are responsible for neutering over ONE MILLION dogs and cats throughout Thailand and are now completing over 20,000 procedures every month. Thanks largely to support from public donations, it is now the largest program of its kind anywhere in the world.

Soi Dog was instrumental in seeing the Dog Meat Trade (DMT) abolished in Thailand under new animal welfare laws Soi Dog helped introduce in 2014. Currently, the foundation is focusing on a DMT live rescue campaign in the Philippines, and on a strategy to end the trade in Hanoi, Vietnam. Soi Dog is working with government authorities in Hanoi - the dog meat capital of Vietnam - to push through a ban on the consumption of dog meat and the existence of some 700 restaurants and vendors serving dog and cat meat in the city.

They also oversee local, national and international adoptions, re-homing dogs rescued from dire situations across the country, from government shelters and the horrendous dog meat trade.

Dedicated to the treatment of stray animals, the most advanced dog and cat hospitals in Southeast Asia are located at their shelter in Phuket. Monthly, they respond to between 1400-1600 cases, and they treat over 350-400. The hospitals employ 15 full-time vets and the shelter itself is home to over 1,700 animals.

Education
Soi Dog Foundation believes that people's attitudes towards animals are formed at an early age. If more people grow up with empathetic attitudes to dogs and cats, there will be fewer cases of cruelty and neglect.

To guide this, Soi Dog devised an education program for school- children, starting at primary school age. The initial rollout of the program was in 2017 and the addition of the Soi Dog Humane Education Centre at the sanctuary in 2020 now allows for further development of the programme. It is their aim that the humane education programme can be integrated into the schools curriculum in Thailand. An important component of the Soi Dog education program is the teaching of the 'Five Freedoms', from the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare (UDAW). Conceived in 2000, UDAW is a proposed agreement to recognise that animals are sentient, to prevent cruelty and reduce suffering, and to promote standards on the welfare of all animals, including companion animals:

Freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition.
Freedom from fear and distress.
Freedom from physical and thermal discomfort.
Freedom from pain, injury and disease.
Freedom to express normal patterns of behaviour.

Find out more about Soi Dog Foundation here.

Poppy: Her Rescue Story in Photos

Arrival at the Shelter
Poppy was emaciated, extremely ill, ad covered in fleas and ticks when
she arrived at the Soi Dog Foundation in the back of a vehicle. n
Immediate Veterinary care
The team at Soi Dog assessed her and started a treatment plan which saved her life. It was unclear if she would survive.
Poppy Today
Now, Poppy is a happy healthy dog who has found her forever home. This transformation is all thanks to the work of the Soi Foundation through its donors.

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Today, Soi Dog’s spay and neuter program, CNVR (Catch, Neuter, Vaccinate, Return), is at the forefront of its operations in Thailand and is aiming to reduce the number of animals born into a life of suffering and abuse or neglect, eliminate rabies and stop the spread of other infectious diseases among dogs and cats, both domesticated and non-domesticated, benefiting both animal and human communities.

Soi Dog's presence on Phuket, and the implementation of the CNVR program there, has seen the stray dog population reduced by over 90% in 19 years and has been a significant contributory factor in the island reporting only 1 confirmed case of canine rabies since 1995.

Soi Dog has carried out spay/neuter and vaccination in various locations around the country and is also committed to a long-term program of CNVR in Bangkok,where there are hundreds of thousands of street dogs, and has expanded to eight mobile teams within Thailand’s capital city. Four more mobile teams operate across the south of the country, with further expansion of the program planned for 2023

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