Babe (Adopted!)

• *** UPDATE!! ***
• 
  
• November 2014

Babe left Elfes World on the island of Koh Samui early last week, flying to Bangkok with travel companions Busy (still looking for a loving home), Rocket, and another small friend, Lee Lee (being adopted in Europe). 

All four dogs enjoyed four-star accommodations with lovely Bangkok foster mom Christine Sudmann, while sweet Soot Liang Woo made travel arrangements and completed all their paperwork to fly to the USA. 

Babe, Busy, and Rocket arrived at O'Hare Airport on Friday, November 14, where they were greeted by Dawn and Chuck.

Babe had a grand time playing at Dawn and Chuck's house overnight!

The following day, on Saturday, November 15, Babe went into an AMAZING home with the lovely Baruch family in the Chicagoland area, and new doggie sibling, Nacho! They came to our Petsmart adoption event to claim Babe.

Mom reports that Babe's biggest dilemma these days is which bed or sofa to lounge on…!

Babe is truly in Kansas, now!

"There's no place like home…there's no place like home…"

Thank you to all who made this possible, from Elfe and her supporters for saving this dear girl from the dog meat trade; to international supporters of Elfes World and ISDF for donating towards Babe's flight fund; to the Baruch family for welcoming dear Babe into their hearts and home with open arms.

* * * * *

My name is Babe.

Two and a half years ago, through a few magical twists and turns of fate, I was plucked from the illegal dog meat trade, and my life miraculously spared.

I was only a few months old, really just a baby - a sweet, adorable, and friendly baby - when I was snatched from the streets and endured a real live Hell on Earth.

But those bad memories are behind me now, and I don't waste too much time remembering what once was. Instead, I've been dreaming about the future. 

It's not that life here at Elfesworld isn't wonderful - I know I am one of the luckiest dogs on earth! 

But there are almost 600 of us living here. So although I work hard to get as much attention as possible (visitors to Elfesworld can attest to my persistently-affectionate nature - ha ha ha), it's not the same as this fairy tale thing I keep hearing about. 

This thing is called a Home. Where supposedly you are the only dog, or one of just a few. And where a handful of people in this so-called Home are not just kind-hearted visitors - but Your Humans. Your People. Your Family.

I am a sweetheart of a girl, and all grown-up now at three years old, though I will always be on the small side - I weigh in at just 10 kg (22 lbs).

I was just 6 months old in March of 2012 when I arrived here at Elfesworld. That was after all the Bad Things that I mentioned above had happened to me, and after I had spent time in a government livestock center after my rescue. Plus, I had to be flown to the big city of Bangkok for medical care and quarantine…

...and then I had to fly again, here to Elfesworld, so by the time all that happened, I had added a few months to my life - and a LOT of wisdom, courtesy of the somewhat-tough dogs at the big shelter where all of us meat trade victims got sent.

But life is good now. 

So I feel like I'm greedy to dream that there might be something even better out there…

But I am one of the most popular pups at Elfesworld. My mom, Elfe, and her many visitors, all consistently describe me as sweet, smart, cheeky (ha ha, I don't know why they say THAT!), adorable, and an affectionate cuddler with silky fur that invites petting. They even say I am like an honorary ambassador to Elfesworld - because the moment I spot visitors, I am bounding over to seek out some petting and love!

Here is Dawn and I in September 2013...

But she's not the ONLY new friend I've made over the past two and a half years! Ha ha ha

I am a sporty girl who is very active. 

I love other dogs but I am too big for my britches sometimes, as I like to play and tumble and tug all day. 

   

I don't know why, but older dogs and crabby dogs sometimes get annoyed with me. Don't they know that life is all about fun, fun, fun?? I am trying to convince them that any time is Play Time! But it's definitely an uphill battle with some of these sourpusses…

My favorite thing in life is to be outside - smelling the air, running with the ground flying below my feet, exploring the land, and playing with anything I come across. Even a coconut is fair game! 

I can make a good time out of anything - I'm always up for fun!

What do you think? 

Do you love life, too?

I sure do hope so…and even more, I hope you might want me to share it with you. Now THAT would be a grand adventure! 

Let's start one today…together.

Love, Babe

For more information about adopting Babe - 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 they had enough of us to satisfy their greed and justify an legal smuggling run across the border.

 One day, 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 Buriram 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. 

I was brought to Bangkok for veterinary care and then flown to the beautiful island of Koh Samui, to Elfesworld, a dog sanctuary.

When I arrived here 2 and a half years ago, for the first time in my strife-filled life, I saw the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Here at Elfesworld, I am shown kindness and affection; I have learned confidence and am polishing my manners; and I have discovered the meaning of safety and love.
It has been a glimpse into a life I never even knew existed: lives where dogs might 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 in a real household.  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, Babe