Duke (Adopted!)

*** UPDATE ***

November 2013

Duke has been adopted by an absolutely amazing couple! Tina and Tony adored Duke from the moment they first laid eyes on him at a meet & greet at VIPs Pet Hotel.

Duke is now living the high life as a completely pampered pooch. Mom and Dad decorated one of the rooms of their home to be just for him - yes, really!! - with doggie furniture and all of his toys and chews. Of course, he probably only hangs out there when they're out, because when they're home, he would prefer to crazy glue himself to their sides.

Mom bought him a ride-on Santa outfit that had us all in stitches. Photos were posted on Facebook, and Tina informed us that he didn't even seem to notice the contraption on his back…ha ha ha…typical Duke! Such a laid-back surfer dude.

Recently ISDF held their first annual Rockin' for Rescues charity fundraising event, complete with a live band, a silent auction, an open bar, and catered food. A handful of ISDF rescues turned up to accompany their parents to the party, Duke among them - and boy, was he living it up! He enjoyed the beef tips and rice dish prepared specially for the canine attendees, and flirted with all of us, flashing his happy smile to anyone who looked his way.

So wonderful to see dear Duke again, and so thrilled that his parents are so in love with this awesome big boy!

Thank you to all who made this possible, from Khun Bee for championing this boy around the world until sponsors were found; to Dr. Kom and Khun Yui for vetting and boarding this sweetheart for almost six months; to Soot Liang Woo for her amazing, loving foster care, and for handling Duke's overseas travel arrangements; to kind-hearted international sponsors who generously donated to help cover his flight funding; to Duke's adoring parents who welcomed him with open arms into their home and hearts.

* * * * *

My name is Duke.

In the spring of 2013, I was kidnapped off the streets of Thailand, which I had called my home for my short life so far. 

I was really just a baby still - no more than 6 months old - yet I found myself snatched off the street in the middle of the night, and then being transported in a cruel crush cage to my terrible end on a dog meat market, along with hundreds of others.

The stars were aligned to save me that fateful night, because the Thai Royal Police intercepted the trucks we were on. They asked to see what exactly lay under the heavy tarps smothering us, and our smugglers knew in that instant that the jig was up.

From that moment forward, my fortunes were reversed. Though at the time, I only thought I was in for more suffering...

Still stuffed in cages like feathers in a pillow, we were transported all the way back - and then further yet, to Nakhon Phanom livestock center.

FINALLY - we were freed from our terrible and suffocating prisons. But we were all in a state of shock.

Still, being a happy fella all of my life, I rebounded and quickly learned to hunt out the rare human who visited us. Whenever I spotted one, I made a point of dashing to them to dispense as much affection and love as possible, in hopes that I would receive any little bit in return.

Little did I know that my sweet nature and happy greetings were what would ultimately save my life. I attracted the attention of kind people who visited wielding cameras, and they snapped my photo and sent it round the world.

In May of that year, a terrible distemper outbreak swept through the shelter. All around me, dogs already weakened from ordeals just like mine, succumbed, sickened, and slowly died. I could smell sickness and despair everywhere.

Many volunteers flooded our shelter to help as many of my fellow brethren as they could. Not only did I - by the grace of Dog - stay healthy, but I tried my best to retain a happy nature, and to greet the kind workers every day. I wanted my vigorously-wagging tail, shining eyes, and ever-present smile to restore their hope, as so many of them smelled of the same despair and looked so sad to me. I knew I had to be strong for all of those around me - human and dog.

So many friends lost...it seemed this terrible time would never end.

In early June, when flooding rains swept the countryside, a photo of me looking bedraggled - but still, always, with my smiling eyes - went global, thanks again to the kindness of animal hero photographers. 

Someone saw me, and spoke for me. They asked that I be pulled from the livestock center and brought to Bangkok to prepare for overseas adoption.

Little did I know what was in store for me!

I actually thought something bad was happening...silly me!! 

Because I suddenly found myself in a cage yet again (though a way bigger one, and only for me, myself, and I)...

...and then in a truck again. Oh my goodness!

My doggie friends huddled and whispered to one another. I smelled their fear. They thought we were being driven to our death - to be someone's dinner - yet again, They shook with fear, understandably.

BUT - I'm a born optimist. A real glass-is-half-full kind of guy. 

I just couldn't believe that was what was happening...the people loading us up were so kind. Their eyes smiled - and not a mean kind of smile, but the best kind of smile, a really happy one. The kind of eye-smile where they look like they're about to do that weird thing humans do sometimes...you know, where water slips out of their eyes like a dripping faucet?

That kind of happy smile has never foreshadowed anything bad...so I had faith. 

See how happy I was to be escaping the overcrowded prison I had endured for so long?

In fact, the team that pulled me and seven friends out that day captioned the photo above, "pull 8 rescued dogs out for adoption. Pulled from NP on Sunday, June 9, 2013. NP-1138 / Male (a lovely jumbo dog) - team favorite".

Team favorite???? ME???

Oh, that's great to know! I am one happy doggie (as usual) to hear that!!

Unfortunately, at this time, I suffered a setback. My health was fine...I was happy as could be. I did fine on the transport to Bangkok, and I loved my accommodations at the vet clinic there, with kind Dr. Kom, and Khun Yui.

They loved and cared for me as best as they could, but they had so many dogs to help, including many of my fellow brethren who had contracted distemper and needed excessive help and care to recover properly.

Meanwhile, my sponsorship fell through for various reasons that had nothing to do with me, but foster homes all over Thailand were full to the brim, due to the recent step-up in dog meat smuggling laws, and the overcrowded shelter situation nationwide.

Three and half long months passed, while I languished at the vet clinic, but I never lost hope - or my innate joyfulness - and I never once doubted that something better was coming right around the corner. The corner was just slightly farther away than I realized...but it was coming...

In mid-September, a sweet,soft-spoken woman named Soot came to see me. She had heard about me and wanted to help.

She loved me from the moment she met me. Who wouldn't? I was happy as could be, and eager to go wherever this kind angel led.

So she led me...right out to her car, in fact, and to her amazing home, which is like a little slice of green paradise in the middle of an urban center.

I loved it at her house!!!

And I loved my Sooty!

We had lots of fun together, and I enjoyed playing with her other foster dogs, too. 

I especially liked waking Soot (and the entire neighborhood, in fact) by giving out a short, sharp bark each morning at precisely 7:28 a.m.

Why? 

Well...why not?? 

I like to think of that funny time in my life as the time in which I just felt like I had to "bark for joy" at least once a day. I would wake up - and find myself still here, in this happy place (pinched myself to be sure each morning) - and then, "BARK BARK I'm still here, world! Ha ha ha!!"

I have given up this morning habit here in the States, now that I realize that I really am living the good life, for real.

I miss this habit sometimes...but the humans around me don't seem to mind that I'm done with that phase. LOL

Speaking of being here in the States (as we "Americans" call it, ha ha ha) - I forgot to mention to you that I took my biggest journey of my life when I came here to the USA, arriving in Chicago on October 25.

I was greeted by some very fun humans - especially this small one, whom I had a wonderful time playing and cuddling with. He was a real gas! 

I love kids, though I'm pretty big (approximately 60 lbs), so I might accidentally knock them down sometimes with my exuberant joyfulness! But not the dog-savvy ones like this guy. He had my number from the get-go...hee hee

I'm having tons of fun here already. I spent one night with a family, but they realized they were not quite ready for another dog yet, as they were still mourning their recent pet, so I am boarding in luxury in Chicago's VIP Pet Hotel.

Meanwhile, kind ISDF supporters and friends come to visit me, walk me, and play with me.

I love all the attention, and the Presidential Suite (yes, I am royalty here in the USA - who knew?) is suiting me just fine for now.

But I've come an awful long way, and I'm ready for the next - and final - footfall in this journey of a thousand steps. And I'm, as always - happily, eagerly, and joyously - awaiting a home and humans to call my very own.
Are you them?

Ready when you are! 

Let's go!!

For more information about adopting Duke, or any of our available dogs, please contact Dawn Trimmel at (414) 426-4148. Thank you!

 I am a victim of the dog meat trade.

I grew up on the streets of Thailand, in a "survival of the fittest" climate, where I had to fend for food and avoid many dangers. 

One day, some men approached me while I slept and tossed a wire lasso over my head. As I awoke, struggling and snapping with fear, they used a long stick with crude pincers attached to the end of it to lift me and then dump me into a truck.

Lots of other terrified dogs were in the truck alongside me. We were driven into a dense jungle-like area, away from main roads and towns. Tropical trees provided cover as the same horrid men used the wire lassos and pincers on us again, this time to grab us and drop us into a pit. We fell through the air for a terrifying moment, then landed on a hard concrete floor. Some of us were injured in the fall; all of us were terrorized.

The pit cover was replaced once we were all inside it, and hardly any light penetrated from above. There was no food or water in our hot, dark, claustrophobic jail, and nowhere to escape. But we didn't fight one another or really do much of anything other than freeze with fear - we were all too traumatized.

Over the next couple of days, the pit cover opened a few times, light blinded us from above, and more dogs were dropped in amongst us until the men apparently decided that had enough of us to satisfy their greed and justify an legal smuggling run across the border.

 There was the sound of the pit cover opening again, and as we all blinked, blinded once again by the light, expecting more dogs to drop down amongst us, the long pincer stick returned instead. We were grabbed around the neck once more, and then shoved into a new form of torture - a compact "crush cage" - with many other dogs. 

The cages were set on end and we were dropped in and shoved and packed like sardines until limbs and tails emerged from between the wire bars and we were nearly suffocating from such close quarters. None of us could move more than literally one inch in any direction. 

Then our crush cages were piled high onto the flatbed of a truck, with more and more cages on top of, and around the sides of, ours. Many of us lost limbs and tails in crushing injuries as the staggering weight stacked higher and higher.

In order to conceal us - live contraband intended for smuggling cross-country and over two border crossings - a heavy, non-breathable tarp was thrown over the entire truck's cargo, cutting off even our access to fresh air - the last resource we had.

We sat on that truck for a long time. I was so dazed and disoriented that it could have been hours or it could have been days - I really can't say for sure. I guess they were waiting for an all clear signal from they boss. They drank water noisily from bottles as they laughed and joked near our truck and we watched them with desperate eyes because of course, during this time, we had been under terrible stress and had not had food or water for a dangerously-long period of time. 

I was certain that the end must be near - I was sure I would suffocate from the heat, from this extreme overcrowding, and from the long stretch of time that slowly ticked by. Indeed, many dogs around me perished.

It was evening, as dusk fell, when our truck finally rumbled to life and attempted to make a run northward for the border. The smugglers were headed for Vietnam, by way of Laos. But near the river's edge which separated Thailand from Laos, where we would have once again been thrown about like so much live garbage - this time into overcrowded smuggling boats - new sounds reached deep into our desolate quarters, inspiring fresh apprehension to those of us still alive and still conscious.

Voices - angry and commanding - fell upon our ears.  We were frightened, but not for long. Much to my surprise, we were rescued that day, and I owe my life to the caring individuals and government officials who came together to save us all from yet more suffering in an extended transport, and eventual slow torture and death, to be someone's adrenaline-infused meal (which some cultures consider good for one's health and virility). 

I am forever grateful to our saviors. A few of the Royal Police even cracked open water bottles and tried their best to proffer sips to those of us in cages with access to bars facing them. But there was too little water and too many dogs. And anyway, it would be a long while before we could even be released from our terrifying confines.

We were slowly transported another long distance, still in those horrible crush cages, still packed like sardines - it seemed to take forever. I was in so much pain and filled with claustrophobic terror - what next??

We ended up at the Nakhon Phanom government-run shelter, one of several large livestock centers in the Thai nation. There, our cages were unloaded with the use of cranes, hoists and manpower. One by one, our cage wires were cut and we literally had to be unpacked and unfolded from the positions we had been held prisoner in for so many long and torturous days.

Next, those of us who could stand and move still were herded into a large dog kennel. To be able to move freely again, and to have access to large vats of water and a long trough with food, was nothing short of miraculous, after all I had endured.

But although my life was marginally-improved now that I'd been "saved", we all still suffered - this time from widespread disease and massive overcrowding. Food was scarce; we lived practically one on top of the other; dog fights were frequent and often vicious; and there was little to no medical attention available. Once again, I was surrounded by terrible suffering and watched as many fellow dogs died around me at a rapid rate.

A long, frightening, sad period of my life passed here. I wondered if my whole life would play out behind these bars, and I shivered with fear to imagine such a fate.

But somehow, through some magical stroke of fate, Lady Luck intervened on my behalf. Someone, somewhere, saw my photo, looked into my eyes, and knew that they could not leave me behind.

For the first time in my strife-filled life, I am seeing the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. In my foster home in Bangkok, I am being shown kindness and affection; I am learning confidence, and polishing my manners; and I am discovering the meaning of family, and the meaning of love. It has been a glimpse into a life I never even knew existed: lives where doggies have homes and families to call their very own, lives where they will never know fear again. 

It's a life I so desperately want now…but one which will be brand-new to me and often confusing. I have so much to learn about life as a pet dog. I know I can do it - I've made it this far already! - but please, won't you gently show me the ropes, and have patience with me when I make missteps sometimes, as I surely will? In return, I will repay you a thousandfold.

I just need a fair chance at a life I could only dream of when I was that terrified dog, crammed into a crate, baking alive in the tropical heat, who had given up all hope.

Thank you for reading my story.

Love, Duke