GOODBYE THAILAND! HELLO CHAIYO!

Every child has dreams - my dream was always to have my own dog. I couldn't imagine anything better. Unfortunately, my parents saw things differently; they had too much responsibility alongside two children and a full-time job. So I had to do without my love of dogs (which I always wanted as a little girl) for a long time.

Not a single birthday or Christmas went by without a dog being on my "wish list". Every day on the way home from school I hoped that my parents would finally grant me my wish to have a dog. I remember it as if it were yesterday: I opened the front door every day full of excitement and hoped that a wet dog's nose would happily greet me. What could be better?

Many years passed, but the desire never faded.

When I was 9, my best friend got a dog from the animal shelter.

My big sister occasionally did dog sitting for the dog, whose name was Tina. One weekend my sister brought the dog home and said we would take care of Tina for the weekend. I still remember my parents saying, "But only this weekend." Due to circumstances, my friend moved away abruptly - that's how I got my first dog. One weekend turned into 9 years. She was able to spend her happy dog ​​life with us.

3 years later, we brought another dog from Turkey in cooperation. I was now at least old enough to rescue dogs - and that's what I did. Meiky, a Kangal crossbreed from Turkey, was given a permanent home. This was followed by a Chihuahua, which we found at a gas station in the Czech Republic during the holiday season. He still lives happily with my sister today.

On my first vacation alone, my friend Stephi and I organized a flight to Munich for a dog that had strayed in the desert. It wasn't easy to bring the dogs from abroad, my final exams were coming up soon and I was trying not to get caught by my parents. When the big Saluki Haya came from Abu Dhabi, I moved into my sister's apartment, where Haya also lives. So that I could come home again, my parents accepted my four-legged friends, without whom I still don't exist.

Many happy years with the furry friends followed. After I got my first permanent job and started working full-time (the dogs were now living with my sister), I noticed after a while that I was missing a dog in my life. Three years flew by, during which I often dreamed of a life with a dog. As a child, I always told myself that when I grew up, I would have lots of dogs. What had come of it? I put my dream far away; my colleague who was allergic to animal hair and a more traditional company had no room for it. There was no way to bring a dog with me permanently.

In 2019, my boyfriend and I flew to Thailand with our backpacks. We had no specific destination, we just went with the flow. We started in Bangkok and landed in Koh Phangan after various stops. We spontaneously looked for accommodation, like every time. We found a number of bungalows, one alike. Beautiful looked different. But we were tired and settled for the rather shabby accommodation.

One evening we heard a strange noise at the door. My friend looked at me, I looked at him, and neither of us wanted to open the door. I sent my friend ahead, after all I was scared... let him be brave! And... surprise! There stood a dog, in a good mood but a little emaciated. He was wagging his tail wildly back and forth, so that his whole upper body was shaking. We immediately went to get some food and served it to him on a palm leaf. We let him sleep in our bungalow overnight and gave him something to eat again in the morning.

When we set off on the scooter, he followed us to the main road, where we naturally stopped. We were afraid he would run in front of a car or a scooter. There was a café next to us, so we sat down there and thought about it. Suddenly, completely unexpectedly, my friend said to me: "I'm not leaving him here. We're taking him with us." I hesitated for a moment; normally that would have been my part. It didn't take much persuasion, I was on board immediately. I tried to contact several animal welfare organizations, but to no avail. No one had capacity, somehow no one wanted to help us, or we were given calls back that never arrived. We walked a few kilometers to the vet because the taxis wouldn't take us with our dog. It was a bit like a gauntlet - our foundling was very hostile because of the other dogs' unfamiliar territory. When we got to the vet, we got a recommendation from an animal welfare organization. They then passed us on to the decisive organization - Dog and Cat Rescue Samui, also known as DCRS.

I took our new stray to Koh Samui by ferry, while my boyfriend packed our things as we needed new accommodation. We had already stayed longer to sort out all the organizational details with and around the affectionate, sweet four-legged friend.

When we arrived in Koh Samui, my stray animal and I were picked up. We sat in the back of the pick-up truck for almost an hour on the hot loading area, with the sun beating down on it.

When I arrived, I just sorted out the paperwork with a woman from Berlin, Brigitte. The dog was already gone and I didn't even have a chance to say goodbye. He was taken to an animal shelter a few kilometers away. I took a scooter taxi back to the ferry and then back to Koh Phangan.

We waited impatiently for two months for our dog, whom we named Chaiyo.

We could hardly wait! We were worried whether he would survive the flight. From Koh Samui to Bangkok, from Bangkok to Frankfurt, from Frankfurt by car to Munich - a real ordeal. Finally the time had come, the flight sponsors arrived with our Chaiyo.

Who would have thought that after just two months, the otherwise rather quiet male dog jumped into our arms. He pressed himself against us and sought closeness and security.

I'm sure he now understood why he had to travel such a long way. But he had finally arrived.

His arrival meant that I also had to look for a dog-friendly employer, and that's how I ended up at VEGDOG . My first, very own companion, the one I dreamed of for so long as a child. So we were both able to arrive, Chaiyo found his loving home and I found the place where I can more than just combine my love of dogs and work.

Saving one animal doesn't change the whole world, but the whole world changes for that one animal!