The time had finally come to say goodbye to Sangkhlaburi and the animal shelter. I say ‘had’ because I’ve now been away from there for the past 10 days (how time flies!!). The hardest part was leaving all the animals behind. Worrying whether the disabled dogs were getting their night-time blankets, whether dogs were getting their proper daily meds, whether laundry had been done and dogs had been walked occupied my mind for several days after having left. But as we all know, the world doesn’t stop turning because one has moved on to something else. Volunteers will always be there to care for the dogs.
I left for a couple of reasons, the first being that I had been in Thailand at that point for almost four months and yet still had only seen a tiny fraction of the Country. Second, as it was early on during my time at the sanctuary, personality clashes arose again. High School cliques started forming again creating a huge divide between people who cared for the sanctuary dogs and those who cared for the clinic dogs. Personally I think that the two would go hand in hand, but alas it wasn’t the reality.
Thankfully though my last two weeks there, just as the first week or so of first arriving, were my absolute favorite. Not because it was the beginning and end of my stay, but again because of the organic nature and vibe of the workers during those times. That ridiculous line between shelter and clinic was erased. No cliques, no favoritism, no inclusion of only certain people and not others. No more bull essentially. Just everyone working together, learning and aiding where needed. It’s amazing how some people can naturally lead others in working together as a team while others create divides so they can pump up their egos where necessary.
I still think of the faces of each animal daily. I will never forget them and though I wish I could take each one with me, I know the chilling reality is that there are animals all over the world that need equal love, care and shelter. For now I’m simply traveling and just as I organically happened to find the sanctuary in Sangkhlaburi, I’m keeping my ears and eyes peeled for the next opportunity. But until then, I’ve headed South to check out the mystery and beauty of the Thai Islands.
Ramblintraveler 