Swedish Michael Baines has since 2011 been rescuing and rehabilitating street dogs in Thailand through what today is called ‘The Man That Rescues Dogs’. The charity is home to 600 rescued dogs, the organization is a costly affair and they are now struggling to keep up with the costs due to the lack of tourists visiting Thailand.
Michael and the staff at ‘The Man That Rescues Dogs’ spends more than $ 1300 daily taking care of all the dogs, most of which have lost limbs from road accidents before they were rescued from the streets. The animal home provides the dogs with custom wheelchairs so they can run freely again and take them on daily walks around the compound in Chonburi province. In addition, the charity feeds around 350 dogs on the streets of Chonburi, spray and neuter them and makes sure they are healthy.
Michael Baines started caring for Thai strays after he moved to the country 19 years ago and states that it started in 2011 when he rescued one dog that turned up behind his restaurant in very bad shape. After feeding the dog, Michael took it to a clinic he trusted and after that, he started to feed the street dogs. He took over the animal home in 2017 and they now have 600 dogs there and the charity feeds another 350 stray dogs on the streets. The dogs are being fed daily and Michael and his team make sure they are healthy. When they take a sick dog for treatment, after end treatment the dog is either let back where it came from if the place is considered safe. If the place is not considered safe for the dog, the animal home takes the dog in.
The daily operations amount to THB 40.000 or THB 1.200.000 a month which also includes almost 30 staff members. The charity has two veterinarians, two construction workers, a free-of-charge clinic, food, medication, drugs, and transportation. However, according to the founder Michael, donations have dropped by 40 percent since the Covid-19 pandemic started and over a year in, ‘The Man That Rescues Dogs’ is now struggling. The charity has also lost many visitors and volunteers and Michael is therefore now appealing for more donations.
The charity welcomes everything from food, rice, bedsheets, leashes, or collars, and people can make cash donations to the rescue shelter through the charity’s website, https://tmtrd.org/.
