CIARA

My name is Ciara.

I wake each morning to the din of over 650 dogs around me. 

But don't think I am complaining - oh no, not even a bit! For I am one of the luckiest dogs on this planet. Of that, I have no doubt.

My story has had some tough moments - but if you stick with it, you'll be rewarded with the happiest of endings!

But let me begin at the beginning…

Sunday, June 16, 2013 was a typical sweltering day in Thailand. 
Like every other day, the Thai Royal Police were guarding the nation's borders to prevent breaches of commerce. But unlike years past, worldwide attention was growing about the barbaric dog meat trade, ostensibly due to the threat of the spread of rabies - but of course, driven in actuality by animal welfare concerns. 
With so many eyes upon Thailand, the government had begun to crack down sharply on shipments of live dogs illegally crossing borders.

On this day, I was one of the unluckiest dogs in the world. I had been discovered on the street in the days' previous, and - caught unawares - I was snared with a cruel noose mechanism and tossed into makeshift containment with what would ultimately be 88 other poor souls, when our shipment was finally deemed large enough to make a run for the border. 

Why was I on the street? 
I confess, my memory of my early days has been all but erased by the horrors of that day…but I can tell you this. I was so young, not even full grown at the time. With my pert, docked tail and my fluffy dark coat, I could have been the beloved affenpinscher or brussels griffon mix of a family or foreigner who brought me along for a lengthy visit to Thailand, but ultimately decided the cost and time and effort of bringing me back home was not worth it.

Look into my soulful eyes. Experience my sweet, loving nature. You will quickly realize that one thing is certain at least - I was once cared for by someone. Someone gave me a crumb of affection, someone showed me what love could be like. Someone taught me how to yearn for love again.
But then they left me to fend for myself, and I obviously had no survival skills. So - from the street to the meat trade I went.

By that time, my appearance was a shadow of what I once was. I was thin, with a filthy, matted coat. My eyes were more haunted than soulful.
And when we were packed into that truck like sardines, with no food or water for days already - with desperate dogs piled below us slowly smothering in the heat, some with broken limbs - and many of us with diarrhea and nowhere else to relieve ourselves - I closed my eyes and simply gave up.

I was so teeny tiny. Even now, as a pudgy little well-fed and full-grown girl, I am just 25 lbs. I was a teenager then, and so thin, perhaps half of my current weight.
I was minuscule compared to many of the other dogs. Weakened already. Despondent about my life before this had even happened. 
And now I knew, in the heat and under these conditions, that I would surely perish. Simply fall to the middle or bottom of this miserable, suffocating, shifting heap of dogs, and give in to the inevitable.

And yet somehow, I was spared.

First, the Thai Royal Police - suspicious of our tarp-covered truck - took a closer look and discovered we were the victims of smuggling. That was the luckiest break I will ever get in this lifetime, I know it, and I am grateful with every fiber of my being.
But since they had no means to move us from that point, our truck from hell had to turn back, and travel many more hours back into Thailand, and all the way to Nakhon Phanom livestock center.

Once there, we were finally unloaded.
On that day, visitors to the shelter happened to be there when we came in. They were sick with grief upon seeing our suffering, and took many photos and videos - those ultimately helped to save my life. 
They were foreign visitors and animal welfare activists, as well as a Thai native, Khun Bee, who faithfully photographed as many of us as she could during that period of time, frantically hoping to help in any way possible. 
The visitors posted our photos, video, and story online, pleading for help for those of us who somehow survived.

You can see me here in a video taken by an animal welfare activist - that's me, at top left:

That's also me in the still photo, at right:

I have no idea that these men are here to help us. I have no reason to trust them and not attack them, after everything I have been through.
And yet, I break everyone's heart to pieces when I allow myself to be lifted out and held in the arms of a strange man wearing (to me) frightening garb. 
I just love people. I can't help myself, but I do - as crazy as that is.

I went into a holding pen:

And then finally into the shelter itself.

Even by the horrific standards of the dog meat trade, our transport was nothing less than the stuff nightmares are made of. I must pinch myself again when I recall that I was one of only 38 dogs that survived (51 perished by the time we were unloaded, so we were literally more dead than alive).
And of us 38, not all survived our time at the livestock center. It was the height of the dog meat trade crackdown, so every day, more of us arrived. There was a lack of adequate space, food, clean water, and hygiene - so disease, diarrhea, starvation, dehydration, and injuries from transport claimed more of our number in the next couple of days.

Bewildered and stunned, and filthier than ever, I soiled myself as I sat on the hard concrete among the the dead, dying, and other survivors - as kind photographers tried their best to document our plight in hopes that the world might hear our voices and help us.

Don't worry - for me, at least, it was all uphill from there!

Fast forward to June 22. The day my new life began...though little did I realize it at first!

As it turned out, the photos and videos taken six days before had once again urged kind dog lovers around the world into action. Of our survivors, 18 were sponsored by international animal lovers to safety at various sanctuaries in Thailand, many of us at Elfesworld - once again, our incredible safety net which was being stretched to the limit, due to so few other options.

My guardian angels - and I hope I haven't forgotten anyone, but pardon me if I did, as it was a time of such confusion and chaos for all of us - were Ulla Elsenheimer, Patricia Carr, Monika Leibbrandt, Caroline Martens, Mirjam Ochsner, Caroline Martens, Tanja Albonetti, Kezia Martin, and Champa Siwap.
Karene Nethery-West and Michelle Stamp also helped spread the word about me and assisted with a number of my buddies that day (and so many days before that and since). 
And finally, Diane Levinson of California learned of my terrible plight and vouched there and then to be my "godmother" (or is it "dogmother??" - she became my monthly sponsor, enabling Elfe to care for me to the utmost all these many years without adding to her own already enormous burden of unsponsored dogs at the sanctuary.

Diane is now my shining light for an even bigger reason (as if that could be possible!) - but I don't want to spoil the ending of my incredible tale! So let me save that best part for last...

Anyhow, on that day - June 22, 2013 - Khun Bee, the kind Thai photographer was back, and soooo excited to see me. She snapped more photos and I begged and begged for pets and pats, as you can see here:

Here are some more photos of me from that day!

Two days later, on June 24, she encouraged me as men loaded me onto yet another truck:

You would think I would have walked onto it with dread - yet I am a clever girl, and somehow I sensed that this time, things would be different. I didn't know how different. I didn't know how lucky I was yet…but I had faith.

Look at my eager expression! I am nothing if not a glass-half-full kind of gal...

It was a loooooong truck drive, but finally we arrived in Bangkok. And this time, we had plenty of space, not to mention food and water. I never lost my eager spark.

After a couple of weeks in quarantine at a Bangkok clinic, where I received medical attention, vaccinations, bloodwork, preventative treatments, and was spayed, I was finally on my way to Elfesworld:

My matted coat was simply too awful to fix so Elfe secured me a grooming appointment shortly after my arrival.
Off I went - another truck, another cage - but again, no fear. I knew now that something miraculous was happening. I knew it the moment I first met Elfe, and I knew no harm would come to me as I went for that next ride.
I was off!

I returned looking a bit like a shorn sheep...

...but a couple of weeks later saw me looking as gorgeous as a pampered poodle, as my coat grew back in and I was finally receiving proper nutrition, care, and loving.

Now I was practically ready for Westminster!
Don't you agree?

Nearly three and a half years have passed for me here at Elfesworld.
I am now four years old, in the prime of my health, and as sweet, spunky, and wild about people as ever.
I know a lot more now about Elfesworld and I can tell you how very fortunate I am…

Elfesworld is a sanctuary for dogs - and even some cats! - on the Thai island of Koh Samui. There are scarce resources for street dogs and especially dog meat trade victims in our area.

Elfe is an amazing dog lover who came to Thailand for an extended stay through her job many years ago but never left. 

She has a heart of gold and during the craziest time of the dog meat trade crackdown, she could not bring herself to turn away any dogs with sponsors willing to help but who had nowhere to put the dogs. 

This was how Elfesworld grew rapidly, especially during the time I arrived - and since then, she has done an incredible job dealing with our massive numbers.

Elfesworld literally saved my life, and the lives of so many others of us. 
Elfe cares for every single one of us as if we are her one and only beloved personal pet. She knows all of our details by heart and has a seemingly photographic memory for each of our precious life stories and struggles.

She tries to place as many of us that are adoptable as possible with kind, loving families around the world, but since she is one of the few beacons of hope to needy dogs in her area, she is always fighting an uphill battle. 
Why, just yesterday, she arrived home from the vet's office to find a wiggling sack on the road to her property, clearly intended for her.

Untying it, she found a very young mama dog with her snout cruelly tied shut with tight twine. Two wee babies were also secured in the sack with her. In the heat, and with dangerous traffic and myriad other threats around, it was a miracle that they survived until she found them.

Three more mouths to feed and care for that Elfe will not turn away…but you can see what she is up against, each and every day.

Every one of us that gets adopted means those who stay behind have a few more precious resources to share. It may seem small, but it all adds up.

So not only am I now standing at the precipice of an incredible new life as a family dog…but when I leave my mama, my heart will not be burdened with sadness, for I know that my friends will benefit (and mama Elfe, too)!

Now. 
Having said all this, I need to clarify. I am NOT looking a gift horse in the mouth…I know how incredibly blessed I am to be here!



At Elfesworld, I am safe from the perils of the street, including speeding traffic and the occasional malicious human or territorial dog. I will never be tortured and eaten at the hands of the dog meat industry. I am protected from fleas and ticks and parasites. I have shelter from the sun under my thatched-roof open-air sala. I have clean water to drink every day, and I will never starve for food again (and as you can see, I sure do like my food! Hee hee!).
I appreciate it all - every single bit of it. Believe you me! I have lived on the other side of life and I know how lucky I am.

But I start each morning with a bright spark of hope that I may have visitors. 

I LIVE for visitors! 
Attention!! Affection!!! Cuddles!!!!!!

Elfe and her small staff, as well as a rotating parade of worldwide visitors who come when they can to help, do their very best to try to provide TLC to every single one of us.



But there are over 650 of us here, and so many of us desperately crave "people-time" that it must be a little overwhelming for the humans. 
I see it in their faces. 
They wish there were 24 more hours in every day, so they could kiss and cuddle all of us all of the time. But they just can't, no matter how hard they try.
So...we grab whatever snippets we can.
I'm okay with that - this is a good life. A great life, compared to what I have known.

Just the other day, two lovely ladies from Operation Elfesworld came and visited me. 





One of them, Tina Smothers, had a big camera and took lots of close-ups for me. I tried to look my cutest!





The other, Meg Hart, had a notebook and she write things about me in it. Her notes said that I am a bundle of joy who definitely wants and needs people in my life. She hoped I would find a home of my own - though at the time, I guess that must have felt like a long shot, given the hundreds in need all around me.
She said that I was bouncy (in a good way), with a goofy little grin that one could not help but smile and laugh at. She said I got along well with my fellow run-mates, and greeted her and Tina with excitement, as I do with all new people. Above all, she said I was the epitome of a happy-go-lucky girl!

Anyhow…enough about me! 
I've heard a story that I want to share with you now. Please suspend your disbelief because I know this will be hard to swallow, but...

I have heard rumors of this mystical place called a "home". 
They say it's like a building where dogs actually live inside it along with people, people they get to call their very own! 
I know this sounds like wild rumor, but they say these places have walls and windows and sometimes grassy "backyards" (I think those are like small pieces of our jungle?), and magical ways to protect you from extreme heat and cold, and things called sofas that are like sitting-beds (??), and even actual beds FOR dogs. 
Yes, I know…bear with me. I am having trouble believing it too. But I'm getting all this 411 from a super reliable source - my mama, Elfe. 
She says it, so I believe it.



She scratches me behind my ears and pats me and cuddles me and whispers to me that soon I will fly away inside a giant silver bird (also crazy. I know. But she has never lied to me before!) and this bird will take me to a different land where I will find some kind humans waiting to meet me, and one day, one of these so-called "homes" will be mine, all mine. The people inside it, mine, all mine. And I will be all theirs. 

Forever and ever.

She says it like she is happy-sad, so I know she will miss me - but I know she is only letting me go because she loves me so very much.
I will miss her too. But like the big silver bird, I think I'm ready for my wings!

As far as where I'm supposed to end up…I guess it's not a jungle, but it's pretty warm still. It's a land called California, where my sponsor mom, Diane Levinson lives.

So remember how I said Diane was doing something even more huge for me now?? Diane is really eager for me to finally find one of these "homes" and so she is paying for me to fly in this big silver bird that will carry me all the way across an ocean! 
I will never be able to thank her enough…



Meanwhile, to make this happen, an army of helpers from around the world are doing their part!
First and foremost, a wonderful woman named Emily Bernie with a dog rescue group in California called LIFE Animal Rescue are going to take me in and find me my people! They work with an incredible group based out of the UK called K9Aid, run by the indomitable Cindy Amey.



There are a host of other moving parts, from Elfe and everyone in Koh Samui who is getting me ready to fly; 



to a small army in Bangkok, such as Ti Krittika doing my transit paperwork and Christine Sudmann who will foster me and many others for my final days in Thailand; 





to Soot Liang Woo in Bangkok who connected me to Emily Bernie and LIFE in the first place; 



to all the good folks in Los Angeles with LIFE who will help me when arrive, as I transition to life as a pampered American pet!



For three years, I have been waiting for this day…and I never even knew it! 

But I am ready - more than ready! - and so so willing and eager to be the missing piece in someone's heart now. Maybe that special someone will be you?

I can't wait to meet you!

I hope we'll be together very, very soon!

Love, CIARA