Just a common black and white dog, like so many Thai dogs in the jungle mountains. They are not pets, they are seldom loved and cared for. Many are sick, infected, mangey, skinny, and unlovely, and all are hungry and looking for something to eat. People eat dogs around here. Sometimes I see 6 puppies bouncing around every day. Suddenly they are gone. Three village boys killed and ate them. I once made a pet out of a terribly sick and mangey black dog that had 5 puppies. A truck ran over her foot and it got infected. I put a charcoal poultice on it and treated her eyes and skin. I fed her well and she became healthy and beautiful with shining black fur. I named her “Blackie.” She followed me to all the villages and never left my side. I really loved that dog. One day Blackie made the mistake of chasing a neighbor’s chicken. I could not find her anywhere after that. The boy next door had shot her and eaten her. I still miss Blackie!
I am in the habit of running almost every morning, and have come across unfriendly threatening dogs in many different places. So far I had not been bitten, but surely thought I would be a couple of times.
One morning at 5:30a.m. I began my run in the dark as usual. I have to go through BYT first, so I wait to run until I am out of the village because I don’t want to start the dogs barking and wake everybody up. I crossed the first river footbridge and walked past the first house. It was perfectly silent everywhere in the village. Suddenly something vehemently struck my right leg with great force. There was no growl no bark. In my shock my throat spontaneously let out a loud croaking nose, but nobody heard or saw, thankfully. I shone the faint little light from my iPod at the black and white dog that was making a retreat! Wow that really hurt, but I did’t know how bad it was because I was determined to run, and I didn’t want to look until my run was finished, even though it was painful.
I have 3 puncture wounds and one tear about 3/4 inch long. I have to receive 5 rabies shots and 3 tetanus toxoids shots over a certain time period. Thankfully I have my own tetanus and the hospital let me purchase the rest of the rabies shots and give them to myself. I could never make it all the way back to MaeSot 4 more times on the exact day. I let BletJhaw learn how to give shots and he did a great job with the rest of them. That place on my leg still hurts to this day.
My Mother told me she always prays that the elephants and snakes won’t harm me, but she never thought to pray about vicious dogs!
It was only a week or two later that a Mother from GeGhah came to our clinic carrying her 7 year old daughter, AhReeAh. AhReeAh had been bitten by the same dog that day, only her bites were 4 times worse than mine! That dog had chewed several times on her left leg. Poor poor child! I cleaned it well and applied a charcoal poultice, then she went for rabies shots and now returns every day for cleaning. It is healing well, although she refused to walk for an entire week.
This dog has now bitten a total of 6 people. I am indignant and ready to kill that dog myself or go tie it up. Why in the world doesn’t somebody kill that dog and eat it? These people of the jungle eat anything that moves – like rats, snakes, dogs, spiders, flies, bees, frogs, turtles, crawdads, grubs, and worms. This is actually not a complete list of the various creatures that get eaten around here.
The news just came to us that someone did kill that vicious dog and he will no longer be attacking innocent people and children! Won’t heaven be marvelous, where you can have a beloved pet that stays close to your side? They will not be vicious to you, nor will the people be vicious to kill and eat them.