No, it's not just a dog - His name is Teddy

Imagine you are lying injured on the streets. Being unable to move, you can't reach any shelter from the burning sun or the heavy rain.

The humid climate causes your wound to get infected with bacteria quickly and you are getting high fever.

Your body starts shaking, you have difficulties to breath because your chest is filling with pus and you feel this terrible pain.

Your vision gets blurry as your body gets dehydrated more and more.

The sense of being so thirsty is almost unbearable while your life is fading...

Can you sense the feeling of helplessness, the pain, the fear and the desperation?

Teddy, who was born on the streets of Koh Lipe / Thailand, was in the situation described above when we found him at the age of only 5 months. He had several severe wounds in his chest.

The bacterial infection led to a Pyothorax, which means that his chest cavity, which is the area between the lungs and the inner walls of the ribs, was filled with pus.

Teddy wouldn't have survived without medical treatment.

At first I had to stabilize his general condition for almost a week before I even could dare to transport him by boat to be examined at a clinic on the mainland.

It took several months of intensive medical care until he had fully recovered.

During this time our Rescue Center on Koh Lipe was still in construction so Teddy was staying with me day and night and he was sleeping in my room.

From the first moment there was a very special bond between me and Teddy which got stronger day by day.

I adopted Teddy myself and he joined our furry pack back home in Switzerland.

He fills my life every day with joy and I am so grateful that the person who initially spotted him didn't think it is just a dog but instead reached out to us for help.

Teddy's story is just an example for countless other stories of strays on Koh Lipe that we rescued with our project help4strays.

On Koh Lipe are still living more than 400 stray dogs and at least as many homeless cats. Our team works tireless to provid frequent spay & neuter clinics, medical care and food for these animals.

They are not just dogs or cats.

Every single one of these strays is a living being with emotions.

They can feel joy, sadness, pain, fear, love and compassion.

I will never forget the heart touching moment when I went to pick up Teddy from the streets.

His mom was still around and came to me when I lifted Teddy into the cage.

She was wagging her tail, licked over Teddy's face and looked at me with a huge smile on her face.

Finally she jumped at me licked my face as well before she walked away, turning her head around one last time as if she wanted to say "Good bye my boy I'm so glad that you are safe now".

These animals deserve our love, they need our compassion and people who are stepping up to help.

Get involved and find out more about our Project Help4Strays:

www.help4strays.org