From our very beginnings, dating back to the 2004 Asian tsunami, we have been on the front line to rescue stray animals from the effects of natural disasters. Today, with our Emergency Response and Community Outreach teams, we can provide on-the-ground help to both animals and people affected by such events.
Soi Dog was first to respond to the Bangkok floods in 2011, providing food to stranded animals, establishing emergency shelters and carrying out large-scale evacuations. This response was repeated during subsequent flooding in Southern Thailand in 2016/17, Ubon Ratchathani in 2019, and Central Thailand in 2021/22, when over 400 tonnes of emergency food supplies were distributed to an estimated 70,000 animals. Southern Thailand was again severely affected by extreme flooding in 2025, the worst the region had experienced in 300 years. Alongside urgently needed food supplies, our dedicated teams provided life-saving treatment and vaccinations to help prevent the spread of disease and improve the welfare of affected dogs and cats.
Disasters are not always the result of climatic events. In 2010, an epidemic of the usually fatal canine distemper saw us conduct a mass vaccination campaign that stopped the disease spreading. In April 2018, an exaggerated rabies scare in northeast Thailand resulted in the impounding of over 3,000 animals. These included domestic pets surrendered by their owners and the rounding up of street dogs who were dumped together in a livestock centre which was simply way too small to house them all. Over 2,000 dogs died before Soi Dog were made aware of the crisis. Thankfully, we were able to save many and set about transporting them to the Gill Dalley Sanctuary in Phuket. Many then found new homes through our adoption programme.
In April 2020, immediately before covid-19 lock down came into effect on Phuket, Soi Dog Foundation coordinated the emergency delivery of over 11 tonnes of extra food to various districts around Phuket. The extra supplies ensured that hundreds of community animals had access to food as the island ground to a halt, sub-districts became cut-off, restaurants closed and thousands of people left the island, causing the disappearance of many regular food sources that these animals rely upon. It is impossible to say how many lives were saved through these operations, but the number certainly runs into the thousands.