It's a Dog's World (Part 2 of Meat, Dogs and Skin)

Around the section of Chula’s campus that we live, as is true throughout the entire country, there are many dogs that live and hang out. Sometimes referred to as soi (side street) dogs, they don’t necessarily belong to anyone – but they might – but they aren't strays either. They aren’t pets (serving more of a security purpose) but they also don't live inside people's homes or compounds. They have their territory and don’t venture too far away into other dog’s territories. The dogs here in our area are mostly thriving because of the abundance of cafeteria and restaurant options which have lots of leftover food at the end of the day. Other dogs will be fed by a friendly security guard. However it happens, these dogs scrap and survive and unfortunately also reproduce in massive numbers. (That is an entirely different conversation though.) (Photo to the left - two napping members of "The Pride")

At this point we know and recognize certain dogs - for instance there are two that think they are working on their MBA’s and hang out in front of the Business School, the two mentioned in the previous post (including the scrawny little black pup that I feed) are a little further down the street and actually have quite a large territorial range (photo above is the little black pup and her friend napping on a gravel game court), there is a pack of 15 or so that actually live under the building next to us, squeezing through a hole in the ground when they need to disappear, (photo below - 7 of the 15 hanging out at night) and while 15 is quite the impressive number, they don’t compare to what I call "The Pride" that lives next to the Student Assistance Building a couple blocks from us. Though not as many as 15, the dogs in this group are all clearly related – same color and build and they own the plaza and lawn in front of the building. They are well fed and spend their time sleeping, exploring and marking their territory (Photos below: members of "The Pride" doing what they do!)

Yes, you too can come visit the animal park located on Chula’s campus! I’ll be happy to be your tour guide.

Duncan