After volunteering for many years at a local animal sanctuary and having travelled overseas on many occasions, I decided it was time to combine my love of travel with my love of volunteering to help animals. I learned about Soi Dog Foundation when they held an information stall at a local pet expo; I decided they were an organization I would be honored to volunteer with. I contacted the head of Soi Dog Foundation to get more details and started planning my trip to Thailand. A friend heard about my planned trip and decided to join me. We were so excited about our trip that we held a movie night fundraiser before leaving to help raise money for the organization and we raised over $5000. I loved my time at Soi Dog Foundation so much that I returned for a second volunteer stint 8 months after my first trip and am about to travel to Thailand for a third time this month for my third volunteer trip.
A typical day volunteering at Soi Dog Foundation would generally start with taking dogs out on walks around the small lake on site and spending some one-on-one time with individual dogs, which they love. In the heat of the day, I would sit in the runs with dogs and spend time socializing them and giving them the attention they crave. I would also spend time sitting quietly close by the more timid dogs to help them learn to trust people. Some days I would take brushes into the runs and give the dogs a groom and remove any ticks that may be found in their fur. Soi Dog Foundation also cares for street cats and a portion of each day would be spent in the cat facility, playing with the kittens and giving the adult cats some socialization. This is important for both the cats and dogs, to improve their chances of being re-homed. My favorite part of the day was spending time with the old age dogs. Some of them have had traumatic lives and I loved sitting, while patting or quietly talking to them. They really do appreciate the kindness shown by volunteers.
