Thailand Dog

NAME: Unknown
LOCATION: Sukhothai, Thailand

There are many stray dogs in Thailand. They wander around in packs, but are generally friendly. Not only are Thai dogs allowed in temples, in fact the local Buddhist temple is the most common place for strays to find food or a safe place to hang out, where the monks will often feed them scraps. It's not uncommon to see ten or more dogs lying in the shade around a temple.

Thailand is the world’s most predominantly Buddhist country, with 95% of its 65 million people following the teachings of the Buddha. Buddhists believe that life is sacred, so it is wrong to end another life under any circumstances. They are appalled at the Western practice of animal euthanasia. Good in theory… but then you see these packs of dogs with no spot on their body free of mange, every rib showing through their skin...

There are more pictures of Asian strays at the Asian Stray Dogs Project.

Thanks to elevenoate for photo