You have seen our friends in the jungle hanging on trees and running through the savannas of the African continent. But, look closer and you will find that there is another interesting wildlife and this one is much closer to your home. Yes, we are the Street Life of Bangkok and our diversity is as interesting as it gets. In our community you may not only find the usual rodents going after their daily work but you can also find busy squirrels, singing birds, quiet snakes, and of course cats and dogs.

Usually you may think of cats and dogs as the beautiful pets who enjoy a pampered life in a nice house, being well taken care of and always sure to be loved by their owners. Yes, it used to be like this, long time ago, but things have changed since then and today many of us share the harsh life of the Street Life.

Being a member of the Street Life community very much means having to live on the street without a cozy shelter to hide in when the rainy season or wintertime comes, no food to eat, no water to drink, no chance to get to know what love is all about. Some of us were hit by cars and now they are dragging their broken legs around while most of us are emaciated, feeble and infected with skin disease.

We used to be your friends and companions, we shared your daily life and worked hard with you in the house or on the fields. But over time we have lost that privilege and our help doesn’t seem to be required any more. In your world this means that we are unemployed and homeless but unlike others we do not have a health care plan or any other kind of social security to help us through our days.

There is now a growing number of stray cats and abandoned dogs walking the streets of Thailand and conservative estimates already talk about 200.000 street dogs in Bangkok alone. The exact figure of our population is of course unknown but you can easily find us everywhere you go – in the big streets, the adjacent Sois, the temples and schools yards, public parks and places or along the many Khlongs throughout Bangkok. We don’t want to bother you but plain hunger and thirst is a strong and driving force for every being and dogs and cats are no exception.

So we like places where food of some kind is available and frankly speaking: we are not choosy when it comes to food. Hence, our regular diet pretty much contains everything you throw away. Therefore, our favorite places are garbage bins and of course the vicinity of food stalls and kitchens. But unfortunately even the leftovers are often out of reach for us and rather end up in those black plastic bags and the back of the garbage truck than in our stomach. Most of us haven’t seen real dog or cat food in years. Needless to say that such existence is not exactly supporting one’s health in the long run. This as well is the reason why many of us are weak and often can’t escape an approaching car or run away from other attackers who somehow find it amusing to hit us wherever they can.

Some of you may now ask why we live on the streets and not in a cozy home in a nice neighborhood. Well, many of us did exactly that but for one reason or another we got kicked out, were abandoned or simply forgotten. Some of us even came from foreign countries and enjoyed the life of a pet with great food and care just before they were no more welcome and had to join us regular guys in the streets. Others have never seen a home and never experienced love and care but were born in a dark corner somewhere in the streets of Bangkok. That’s basically how we all got here and believe me: all of us would like to have a home.

But there is hope.

Some of you really have a heart for us and provide us with food and water whenever they can. Others even established shelters and provide medical treatment for the most unfortunates of our community who got injured or sick and suffer a great deal. On the other hand, there is still a large number of cats and dogs suffering without any help and we know that it is up to us, the Street Life, to make our case heard, to explain the issues and to reach you the best we can – because we need your help.
So that’s why we started this website.

This website is dedicated to the Street Life in general but due to their great suffering we put special focus on all the cats and dogs in the streets of Bangkok. We intentionally did not choose a “shock and awe” approach to deliver our message although the issue at hand might have an implicitly shocking impression on you. However, we try to be as objective as possible leaving you with the final judgment whether or not you will provide us with your help and compassion to improve our lives.

Please don’t go away but step inside our website and learn more about us and the many different ways you can help us every day. We have prepared different chapters for you to learn more about animal care and the situation of the ones living as strays.