GOODBYE THAILAND! HELLO CHAIYO!
Checked: Carla Steffen
Every child has dreams - my dream was always to have my own dog. I couldn't imagine anything better. Unfortunately, my parents didn't see it that way, too much responsibility on top of two children and a full-time job. So I had to do without dog love (which I always wanted as a little girl) for a long time.
Not a birthday or Christmas went by without a dog being on my "wish list". Every day on the way home from school, I hoped that my parents would finally fulfill my wish for a dog. I remember it like it was yesterday: Full of excitement, I opened the front door every day, hoping a wet dog's nose would greet me joyfully. What could be better?
Many years passed, but the wish never went away.
When I was 9, my best friend got a dog from the animal shelter.
My older sister dog-sat for the dog, whose name was Tina, from time to time. One weekend, my sister brought the dog home and said we would take care of Tina for the weekend. I still remember my parents saying: "But only this weekend". Due to circumstances, my girlfriend moved away abruptly - that's how I got my first dog. One weekend turned into 9 years. She was allowed to spend her happy dog life with us.
3 years later we got another dog from Turkey in cooperation. I was now at least old enough to rescue dogs - and that's what I did. Meiky, a Kangal mix from Turkey, was given a final home. This was followed by a Chihuahua, which we found at a petrol station in the Czech Republic during the vacation season, who still lives happily with my sister today.
On my first vacation alone, I organized a flight to Munich with my friend Stephi for a dog that had strayed into the desert. It wasn't easy to get the dogs from abroad, my final exams were coming up soon and I was trying not to be noticed by my parents. When the big Saluki Haya arrived from Abu Dhabi, I moved into my sister's apartment, where Haya also lives. To get me back home, my parents accepted my four-legged followers, without whom I still wouldn't exist.
Many happy years with the furry friends followed. After I took up my first permanent position and started working full-time (the dogs were now living with my sister), I realized after a while that I was missing a dog in my life. Three years flew by and I often dreamed of a life with a dog. As a child, I always told myself that I would have lots of dogs when I grew up. What happened to that? I put the dream far away, my colleague with an allergy to animal hair and a rather traditional company didn't offer any room for it. There was no way I could bring a dog with me permanently.
In 2019, my boyfriend and I flew to Thailand with our backpacks packed. We didn't have a specific destination, we just let ourselves drift. We started in Bangkok and landed in Koh Phangan after various stops. We spontaneously looked for accommodation, as we do every time. We found a row of bungalows, one just like the other. It looked different. But we were tired and settled for the rather shabby accommodation.
One evening we heard a strange noise at the door. My friend looked at me, I looked at him and nobody really wanted to open the door. I sent my friend forward, after all I was scared... let him be brave! And... surprise! There stood a cheerful but somewhat emaciated dog. He was wagging his tail wildly back and forth so that his whole upper body was wagging. We set off straight away to get some food and served it to him on a palm leaf. We let him sleep in our bungalow overnight and gave him something to eat again in the morning.
When we set off on the scooter, he followed us to the main road, where we naturally stopped. We were afraid he would run in front of a car or a scooter. There was a café next to us, so we sat down and thought about it. Suddenly, my friend said to me completely unexpectedly: "I'm not leaving him here. We're taking him with us." I hesitated briefly, normally that would have been my part. It didn't take much persuasion, I was immediately on board. I tried to contact a few animal welfare organizations, but to no avail. None of them had any capacity, somehow no one wanted to help us or we were sent callbacks that never arrived. We walked a few kilometers to the vet because the cabs wouldn't take us with the dog. It was a bit of a spit-and-polish - our foundling was very antagonized by the strange territories of the other dogs. When we arrived at the vet, we received a recommendation from an animal welfare organization. They then passed us on to the right organization - Dog and Cat Rescue Samui, also known as DCRS.
I took our newly acquired stray to Koh Samui by ferry, while my friend packed our things as we needed new accommodation. We had already stayed longer to sort out all the organizational matters with and around the affectionate, sweet four-legged friend.
On arrival in Koh Samui, my stray animal and I were picked up. We sat in the back of the pick-up for almost an hour on the hot loading area, with the sun beating down on us.
On arrival, I just clarified the paperwork with a Berlin woman, Brigitte. The dog had already left by then, so I didn't get a chance to say goodbye. He was sent to an animal shelter a few kilometers away. I took a scooter cab back to the ferry and then back to Koh Phangan.
We waited impatiently for two months for our dog, whom we called Chaiyo.
We could hardly wait! We were worried whether he would survive the flight. From Koh Samui to Bangkok, from Bangkok to Frankfurt, from Frankfurt to Munich by car - pure exhaustion. Finally the time had come, the flight sponsors arrived with our Chaiyo.
Who would have thought it, after a good two months the otherwise rather quiet dog jumped into our arms. He pressed himself against us and sought closeness and security.
I'm sure he now understood why he had to come such a long way. But he had finally arrived.
Due to his arrival, I also had to look for a dog-friendly employer, which is how I ended up at
Saving an animal doesn't change the whole world, but the whole world changes for that one animal!
