Thai charities Soi Cat & Dog Rescue and Soi Dog Foundation merge

    BANGKOK,  PHUKET–Soi Cat & Dog Rescue,  of Bangkok,  and the Soi Dog Foundation,  of Phuket,  on February 28,  2012 announced a merger.  Often confused with each other,  SCAD and the Soi Dog Foundation have parallel programs,  emphasizing dog and cat sterilization,  and have parallel histories.  British expatriate Sheridan Conisbee founded SCAD,  then called Soi Dog Rescue,  in 2002.  Early mobile sterilization campaigns were assisted by Danish veterinarian Mogens Hansen.  Dutch expatriate Margot Park formed the Soi Dog Foundation in September 2003,  assisted by then newly arrived British expatriates John and Gillian Dalley.
The Soi Dog Foundation won global recognition for leading the animal relief efforts in Thailand after the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.  Gillian Dalley actively assisted despite losing both legs to septacemia contracted during a dog rescue two months earlier.
Park left the Soi Dog Foundation,  and left Thailand for a time,  in 2005-2006,  but returned to Thailand to help lead SCAD after Conisbee left Thailand.
The Soi Dog Foundation became actively involved in Bangkok, Dalley told supporters,  in mid-2011,  “firstly working with local people to fight the illegal dog meat trade and to introduce animal welfare laws,  and more recently coordinating the rescue and temporary care of hundreds of animals stranded by floods,”  which paralyzed much of Bangkok for months.  “During this time it became very clear,”  Dalley said,  “that not only were the problems in Bangkok massive,  but also a lot of local people are trying to help the animals,  something we rarely see in Phuket.  We feel it is very important that the many Thai people helping animals in Bangkok have resources to help them.”  Dalley announced along with the merger of the Soi organizations the appointment of Khun Phimpakarn Petpichetchien as general manager for the Bangkok operations.  “Khun Kharn has volunteered full-time throughout the floods,  assisting me both in Bangkok and in Nakom Phanom,  where the dog meat trade dogs are taken,”  Dalley said.
“This will not impact on our work in Phuket,”  Dalley pledged,  “where we have just employed an additional dog retrieval team and are currently sourcing and training additional vets.  We plan to double the number of sterilizations on Phuket,”  Dalley said. The Soi Dog Foundation has completed about 5,000 dog and cat surgeries per year,  on average,  since 2005.