Smart Street Dog

I have seen this dog a few times now. Today I took his photo and then offered him some food which he refused (maybe he knew something about the food I did not?). He seemed like a very smart alert dog and in good shape especially for one who lives on the streets. The last time I saw him (think it was him anyway) he was waiting at a crosswalk at a nearby road. He waited until many people were walking on the crosswalk before going out himself and crossing 4 lanes of very busy Bangkok traffic. He knew how to use a crosswalk, smarter than many of the jay walkers back home.

The street dogs here are real survivors, very intelligent. In past years I have seen dogs use the Sau-pan-loy (walking bridges) to get across very busy roads. They ran up one set of stairs, then ran across the bridge before running down a second set of stairs and the safety of the side walk on the other side of the road. A few  years back I saw a dog get over 8 lanes of speeding traffic near the old Don Mueang airport that way.

Buddhists do not believe in euthanizing dogs, so they live on in the city. There is a program to spay and neuter strays I believe but do not think it is really working, way too many dogs. Thai people will very often give food to stray dogs, feed them at outdoor restaurants, give the left overs to them etc.

Dog on his perch, looking down at the DUMP people.