Pets In Bangkok - It's Getting More Popular

Bangkok has more pets now than ever before,At a pet shop, you would find all kinds of pet
something in the order of several hundreditems; dog food, cat food, bird food, chewy
thousands.bones, as well as cat litter boxes. These items
I came back to Thailand from the US in 1989, andcan also be found in a supermarket like Big C and
since then I have seen more pets in this city. MyFoodland. Some of these stores may also stock
wife and I are pets lover. We have three dogs,pet clothing especially for dogs and cats. It does
two Golden Retrievers and a local brand dog.get cool for a few days in December and
Chihuahua and other small dogs are very popularJanuary.
here as well, due to their pocket-sized profile.There are some unfortunate sides to some of
They are perfect for apartment and condominiumthese pets like stray dogs. There are too many
dwellers.stray dogs in some streets. This is so because
Other traditional pets like gold fishes in a tank aresome people had taken in these dogs for a while
also on the rise, you would see them in localand then later abandoned them. Shopkeepers on
restaurants and hotels.the streets feel sorry for them and feed them.
We enjoy our pets very much. Every time weEvery once in a while you would see a very fat
come back home from somewhere, we aredog walking around some sidewalks.
happily greeted by these barking children. ALately, the Bangkok City Administration has taken
Golden Retriever would greet us by barkingsome actions on the stray animal issue. They
quickly while a tennis ball is still in her mouth.have announced that all dogs in the city will need
In many Bangkok neighborhoods you could findto be tagged with microchips. The city now wants
pet shops as well as veterinary clinics. We have adog owners to be responsible for their pets. Dogs
very good veterinary clinic not to far from ourwill not be allowed to roam around town without
home. There you could have your pets checkedcollars and tags.
out. At one time, we had to take one of theThis is a drastic move because the only place you
Golden Retrievers for an examination for a lost ofcan have your dogs tagged is at the central
appetite symptom.branch of the city administrator, and there are
The clinic had kept her there for a few days, soseveral hundred thousands dogs. So you see, it is
it almost like a little hospital stay. By the waydifficult for dog owners to take their pets there.
they also make house call.It will be a while before all dogs are tagged.