By Lucy-Claire Saunders
Earle Bingley has worked for months to sponsor Nam. At only five years old the Thai orphan has been beaten abused and thrown away like a piece of garbage. But next month Nam will make the journey halfway around the world to her new home in West Vancouver.
But Nam is not a child. She is a dog and like many dogs in Thailand she has found life on the streets to be cruel.
“Nam had boiling oil poured over her when she was puppy by a vendor in the street” said Bingley. “She’s healthy now but her ears are really bad and she has scars all over her body. A lot of her fur is ingrown.”
Bingley74 is the founder of Canadian Voices for Animals Foundation a non-profit dedicated to helping abused animals by finding them homes and lobbying governments to create legislation protecting the four-legged companions. He is Nam’s only hope.
A few months ago Bingley received an e-mail from a German veterinarian about an unsanitary and degrading animal shelter in Hua HinThailand. Not 30 minutes later Bingley initiated a mass campaign condemning the inhumane treatment at the shelter. It turned out the e-mail sent by the German vet misidentified the shelter. But the damage was already done and Bingley had to write a formal letter of apology to King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the citizens of Thailand explaining his mistake.
But it was too late. The city council of Hua Hin decided the shelter would be downsized and the city official in charge of animal services at the shelter Dawn Poole would be axed. Bingley’s campaign had ignited unfavourable press coverage and public outrage even though Poole is not a city official nor is she Thai. She simply operates a small private rescue shelter.
“The city council is getting rid of her because of all the fuss I made” said Bingley. “They want her gone and the space (in the shelter) she’s in charge of to build coffee shops and stores for a tourist attraction with the hope that the tourists will adopt some of the dogs in their care.”
In an effort to right his wrong Bingley has partnered with Poole to find the remaining dogs permanent homes. And just to completely distance themselves from the Hua Hin city council they have taken it upon themselves to move the dogs on her care to a new shelter, called Head Rock, the literal translation of Hua Hin.
“I couldn't believe the shape these animals were in” said Bingley. “The government takes dogs from off the street and then place them into the shelter. Eventually a good percentage of the dogs are killed. It is also known that trucks from Vietnam come to Northern Thailand to collect the strays and the dogs are then put on the Dog Markets as a food source.”
The existing law in Thailand neither allows nor prohibits dog slaughter and there is no animal welfare legislation. There is only one clause in Thailand’s criminal code which states“a person committing the act of cruelty or killing an animal by means which induces unnecessary torment shall be sentenced to one month in jail or fined one thousand baht ($32) or both.”
The term cruelty is not defined and not one conviction has ever been made according to the Thai Animal Guardians Association.
Nam and two of her canine companions will be flying out to California at the end of May —thanks to Bingley’s friend in San MateoBarbara Kohn who donated her air miles to rescue the three dogs from the shelter. From thereNam will make her way to West Vancouver provided Bingley finds the funds to fly her on the last leg of the trip.
Bingley who lives in West Vancouver has championed animal rights since he was 13-years-old. In 1992actress Doris Day wrote an article in a California newspaper in Carmel about Bingley saying he has a “heart that overflows with love for the animals.”
Bingley hopes that governments like that in Thailand incorporate an animal welfare policy that uses reproductive control measures instead of reacting to the problem by turning a blind eye to mass slaughter. He has already set up similar projects in Norway, Argentina and Peru.
He encourages anyone who is interested in Nam’s story or the other dogs that need rescuing to visit Canadian Voice for Animals Foundation at
www.canadianvoiceforanimals.org.