The Tiger Cave Temple is one of the most highly regarded temples in all of Thailand. The grounds are absolutely huge and the main feature is a very long series of oddly irregularly shaped stairs that go to a mountaintop that has the Buddha's footprint there. It is a tough journey for any creature and even though I am in relatively good shape, it is a very tough job to get to the top of it.
The monks make their way up there several times a day to do some cleaning and one of them lives up there full time in very basic accommodation. I go up there a couple of times a month both for exercise and to make sure that if there are any dogs up there that they are being looked after and fed. There normally aren't any dogs up there but this past trip I took to the top there were several of them.
I want anyone reading this to realize how special it is that these animals would be up here. It is nearly 1300 steps to the top of this mountain and at night the path is barely lit at all. There would be a lot of chances for injury and there aren't very many places to stop off to have a rest either. As tough of a journey getting to the top is for a normal-sized human it is amazing to me that these dogs jumped over a thousand times in a row, sometimes navigating very difficult and steep steps, in order to make it all the way up.
The pole is incorrect after they made a change to the setup near the bottom it is actually around 40 steps more than that, either way, it is a lot of stairs
Just like most of the dogs and cats at the Tiger Cave Temple, these pooches were very friendly and didn't cause any problems for me or the other visitors to the temple. They were greeting everyone who came up there and it made me happy that at least one of the dogs recognized me from all of my visits here in the past. It probably didn't hurt that I was carrying food with me.
I did a quick inspection of all the dogs that were making the top of the mountain their temporary home and was happy to see that they were all injury and parasite free. They also were not malnourished and I noticed that a bowl of water had been put out for them, presumably by the monks.
After everyone got some rubs and food, I had to leave and go tend to the rest of my day. It felt kind of nice when they all ushered me to the exit of the top platform and one of them even followed me down for about 100 steps. She must have remembered how much work was ahead of her because at the 2nd landing she turned back to join her pals at the top. I guess she didn't want to brave the steps back down with a full stomach. Don't want to get cramps by exercising right after you eat!
For those that don't know, the Tiger Cave Temple initiative is one of our more important ones because we have a rather controlled dog population and all of the females are sterilized. We are attempting to showcase how an a group of dogs in one area can be made to not overpopulate out of control which is often the case in many places all over Thailand. Our hope is that once we document this that other temples or organizations will initiate a similar program all over the country so they can help in our cause of eliminating as much suffering as possible in the stray dog population of Thailand.
If you would like to see how you can help out or simply spread the word, please visit our website at
http://krabianimalwelfare.org
เป็นผู้สนับสนุนรายเดือนหรือบริจาคครั้งเดียวได้ที่:
maybe it is too high up for the parasites lol. Ticks and fleas love grass so I doubt there are any there naturally so it should be far healthier for them up there. 1300 steps is some going and would hate to forget something and have to do it twice. Just amazes me dogs would make that trek up knowing there is something at the top in the first place.
I hadn't thought about the insects not wanting to go up that far. I'm sure that isn't the case because the elevation isn't really that high. I think if anything the reason why there aren't many parasites up there is because there is very little in the way of wildlife up there so there hasn't been any way for them to hitch a ride.
True as that is how they get around by using other animals as a taxi.
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Guys look a little rough but fit, and I guess you'd have to be to thrive in a location like that. Are there any permanent residents or caretakers at the top of the steps?
There is one monk that watches after the top and I believe that they work in a rotation of sorts. Although I am not sure about their official duties up there it appears as though they keep the common areas swept and clean. They probably have to walk down at least once a day in order to get food to bring back up.
It really is amazing how they have gone all the way up those stairs, I hope the documentation goes well for you guys.
Thanks as always for your words. Any human that has made this journey to the top can attest to how difficult it is. I guess the dogs don't really have anything else to do but I still admire the work they put into getting up there!