Kaffe

I always joke with my animal loving coworkers that we should start a SPCA chapter in Cambodia. I've seen way too many stray cats and dogs that can use a loving home. Coming from a highly developed nation, pets are placed as high priority and almost human-like in people's lives. It's amazing how the luxury pet market has been surging the past decade. For Cambodia, pets are a different story. While there are many households that have animals, many are livestock (chicken, pigs, cows, water buffaloes, etc) or dogs that just hang around the house. No one has leashes on their dogs nor are they treated as the same level of pets as people would in the US. Their treated more as second class citizens that border on abuse. I'm sure PETA people will be horrified by some things I've seen. It's not that Cambodian people are animal abusers but that society in general have not placed pets or ethical animal treatment on high priority. Even in highly industrialized countries in Asia like South Korea and Japan for example, it's only recent that people have become much more conscious of how they treat their pets. I remember my dad said he used to chase after dogs with sticks in Japan when he was little. If he did that now, the police would be running after him.


In any case, I've seen a lot of abused dogs around town and they are generally very afraid of people coming close to them, especially foreigners. I remember stray dogs would come close to bark at me when I first came, although I think I must "smell" more local now since they've stopped doing that. Even dogs at the temple whom I've seen for 5 months still barely let me touch them. 

This dog who was still a puppy when she first came to the temple is an anomaly. She's gotten surprisingly fond of me especially since I started bringing her food and chased off bullying dogs a few times. I named her Kaffe, or coffee in Khmer, since she looks like an iced coffee; black like coffee on the top and white paws on the bottom like condensed milk.

 I seriously thought about adopting her and bringing her back to the US -  I've read many cases of oversea volunteers who have brought back abused stray pets back to their home countries - but with lack of veterinarians in the country the process is complicated. I would have to take her to Phnom Penh to get a series of shots and then apply to get her quarantined. For now, the monks seem to like her as well so I hope they do continue to take care of her after I'm gone.