 |
|
My name is Joey and I died after a short struggle with cancer
which I finally lost late in the evening of April 1, 2009. I now
followed my old friends Nicky and Paula who always were here
with me at Khlongdogs. The cancer started in my liver and later
spread around my little body until I was so weak that I could
not eat on my own. It is a terrible disease and I hope that all
my friends here at Khlongdogs will be spared such an experience.
But even the worst thing has a good side and I was given the
chance to experience what love and compassion can mean in this
world. I am very grateful that I was never left alone during
this hard time and I found that humans can be wonderful beings.
No matter what time of the day there was always Paporn around me
who gave me food, medicine and water, she cleaned me up, brought
me to the vet and tried to cheer me up with nice Thai songs. So
it came as no surprise that I left with my small head in her
arms. She knew that this is the night and she stayed with me all
the way. Dear Paporn, I know that I have always been your
favorite and even when I came close to ruin your nerves, you
never gave up on me and I really want to thank you for that.
I had a good life and during the more than ten years that I
stayed with Khlongdogs I was never really sick with anything. As
a matter of fact my only problem was that I liked the food and
gained some kilos more than I should have. Yes, it all began at
that day when I first came to Paporn and Thomas because no one
else wanted to have me. I immediately started to run around the
garden back there in the old house and I met with Nicky who
became like a mother to me. I would roll close to her belly when
the night came and I enjoyed the warmth of her body all night
long. I was missing her very much since she left us. It is
important for a small guy like me that you have good friends who
always stay by your side. On the other hand I cannot really
complain since the other dogs were mostly very understanding and
although they were all much bigger I still was a part of the
team. So I enjoyed playing with Paula and even with Klinsi or
Fighter who tried to comfort me during my last weeks.
I
leave behind a life with beautiful memories. It was back in the
old days when Nicky, Paula and me formed a perfect team and
together we guarded the house to keep out any intruder. I
particularly remember all the evenings when we were hunting a
mouse in the garden and we all worked together. Yes, we were
just dogs and that was great. Of course, I also always made
myself heard and especially when there was a motorbike passing
by because I really did not like them. Later things got even
better when our team grew with Mona and Lisa joining the gang.
Soon after that we all moved to a new house and there we
welcomed our new members Hiso and later the really wild brownies
Klinsi, Klose and Zidane. And the team was still growing. There
were suddenly so many friends to play with and since none of us
was ever confined to a cage we all enjoyed the freedom of
running around the entire place. Yes, those were the days and I
feel just good to be a part of it.
Now at the end of my
journey I must say that there is lots of suffering in the animal
kingdom and much of it is caused by humans. However, there are
notable exceptions and some of us really have the chance to
escape the agony of the street life. Yes, I am aware that we
require care and quite some effort but we also give back what we
receive. After all these years I am still convinced that we all
made a good team, humans, dogs and cats. If there is still one
wish granted to me it will be that more people will adopt a
street dog or stray cat. There are many things we all cannot
change but we all have the power to create a life for each other
that is worth living. There is so much beauty in helping others
and if you could see us running around the garden, playing,
howling to the moon and kissing our human friends, well, you
would easily understand how rewarding a healthy and protected
life can be for you and us. So, don’t worry about me, I will be
fine with my friends at the Khlongdogs palm tree over there at
the lake, but please take a minute and consider the idea to take
one of our poor friends from the street, give them a home and
feel the harmony that only animals can give you.
|
