Soi Dog Foundation Launches Mobile Clinic in Surat Thani

Soi Dog Foundation has launched a new mobile clinic in the southern province of Surat Thani. The clinic is the ninth of its kind in Thailand and has been set up to help manage the province’s street dog and cat populations and stem the spread of infectious diseases through sterilization and vaccination.

Sterilization and vaccination is – and always has been – at the forefront of Soi Dog’s work and is proven to be the most ethical and effective way of controlling street dog and cat populations. Since 2003, the foundation has sterilized and vaccinated over 580,000 dogs and cats across Thailand – more than any other organisation in the world.

The launch of the mobile clinic follows the completion of a five-month project by Soi Dog Foundation on the island of Koh Samui in Surat Thani which saw over 3,000 dogs and 500 cats sterilized and vaccinated. The foundation decided to move to mainland Surat Thani with the same mission after receiving numerous requests for help.

“Surat Thani is the largest of Thailand’s southern provinces (changwat), and we’re getting an increasing number of reports about sick and injured animals and requests for sterilization clinics there,” explained Soi Dog’s Community Relations Manager Sakdapol Thongjan. “But sterilization alone will not solve the problem, so we’d also like to raise awareness of pet owner responsibility to people here. We’re pleased to be collaborating with the Department of Livestock Development (DLD) on this.”

The new mobile team received a warm welcome from both the Head of the Surat Thani Provincial Office of the DLD and the Mayor who visited the clinic on its first day of operations to show their support.

“I’m grateful to the Department of Livestock Development for collaborating with Soi Dog Foundation,” said Head of the Surat Thani DLD Mr. Daecha Jitpirom. “Surat Thani is a big city with a large number of stray dogs, and we share the same goal of achieving long-term change in the stray animal issue and eliminating rabies in a humane way.”

Soi Dog is currently operating three mobile clinics in southern Thailand: in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phang Nga and Surat Thani. Each mobile team consists of licensed veterinarians, nurses and animal rescue officers who work together to catch, neuter, vaccinate against rabies and then return an average of 40-50 street animals per day. Pet owners and street animal feeders are invited to bring their dogs and cats to the clinic too; however, they are asked to book in advance by emailing clinic@soidog.org.