Second Chance
Second Chance
July 16th, 2008SCAD, which stands for Soi Cats and Dogs, is a group of volunteers who aim to help better the lives of Thailand’s strays. Though they organize adoptions for the animals, the group does not think of themselves as a shelter, but rather as a halfway house for these animals. Mark Stelzner, a SCAD volunteer, talks about his work and how much they need your help.
Could you tell us what SCAD does?
What we do here is to “re-home” these animals. We work with people in communities that need help with stray animals. We pick them up and bring them to our health center where we treat them and spay or neuter them before releasing them back in to their communities.
What about the adoption?
Sometimes we find orphans whose mothers were killed in accidents. We take them in and evaluate their health. If they are healthy and are suitable for domesticated life, we take them into the program. But we also have limited resources so we focus on the neutering campaign.
What should a person know about the adoption program?
First of all, you have to be sure that you can take care of them. You have to give them a good home and feed them and be certain you won’t just get bored of them. We will check if you have a suitable environment for them to live in.
Are there any costs?
We usually charge for the neutering and basic vaccinations which can cost you around B500-1,000. However, we don’t want to emphasize this as we don’t discriminate. Anyone from any walk of life with a love for animals can join the program.
Do you need volunteers?
We always need volunteers in many areas. If you’re not comfortable being so close to the animals, you can volunteer to help with our administrative work such as fund-raising. But if you want hands-on experience, you can help us with the basic obedience training. Or you could assist the surgeons at the health center. We will train you of course.
For more information on how you can help, check out their website at www.scadbangkok.org or call 02-713-3354. SCAD also runs ReTails (G/F, Lake Rajada Complex, Ratchadapisek Rd., 02-661-8874), a store whose proceeds fund their activities.
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