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2008-10-09
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Hello, thank you for visiting my website |
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| About Me | ||
 My name is Elisabeth Feigl, called Elfe, I’m a German woman living in Thailand. Living here since 8 years I call it my home already and I’m very in love with this wonderful country. Since 7 years I live on Koh Samui, a beautiful island in the Gulf of Thailand. A little bit about my background and how I came to live here… After studying social work in Germany, I chose an additional education as a foreign language correspondent - as I had always dreamed of living and working in other countries around the globe… After some extensive traveling around the world I chose Bangkok, Thailand as my first job-hunting resort. Coming from a fairly small town in Bavaria, I was electrified with Bangkok and its vibrant life. Very soon after my arrival I found a job with a Burmese furniture manufacturer. It was a great experience and a wonderful and interesting time I spent in Bangkok, but after one year I thought it was time for a change again… That’s when I came to Samui, just for a holiday and to give me time to think what I would do next…. After some weeks I liked the island so much that I decided to stay for more… and it was not long before I found a job here at a 5-star resort. |
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| How I became a dog-person and how it all began… |
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| I always loved dogs, back home I had a German Shepherd when I was a teenager and my favourite past time was to go to the dog training center with her or going for long walks with her every day. At age 3 she got shot by a ranger because she was after a deer. Later in my twenties I had a yorkie girl who was the most adorable pup, unfortunately she was run over by a car. That made me decide not to have a dog anymore, too painful was it losing my two beloved dogs. Also in Thailand I did not want to have a pet, I wanted to be independent. Not long should this last… when I moved into a bungalow in Lamai it did not take very long and boomer, a street dog, joined me and became my best friend. He watched the bungalow while I was away and followed me whenever I let him. Sadly, also boomer was run over by a taxi some months later. Then madam moved in. I first noticed a sign at the road, where she was staying, stating ‘please feed two dogs here’. Only one dog, madam, was left, her brother was already killed by a car. I brought her food every day for the next two weeks and we became friends. Then I took her to my bungalow as the place at the road was too dangerous for her. Not long after that, one day while I was gone shopping at the market for a few minutes, a Thai man left Vicky at my doorstep, more dead than alive, and so the story goes…. Not long after Vicky had arrived, I moved to another house with a big walled-in garden, to provide a safe place for my dogs. With all the traffic and chicken and hustle it had not been safe anymore at all for my dogs to be outside the house. For 7 years we have been staying here now and over the years i rescued and took in more and more dogs and cats who i found in need on the road and elsewhere. Fortunately the the few neighbors and residents here were accepting me with my dogs and were very kind and friendly to put up with all the barking and howling. I was very thankful and happy for that. Due to the high number of animals living in elfesworld, 86 dogs and 23 cats, and the fact that I am taking care of them all by myself, I have no time and energy anymore to work outside elfesworld. The money which I could earn here through a job would by far not be sufficient to provide for the animals and staff which I would need to hire then. Reliable and animal loving staff is very hard to find and that is why I prefer to work with the animals by myself. If I ever have the financial means I might consider to employ a part time house keeper to take some of the work off my shoulder as i am getting older. |
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| The new Dog Home | ||
| At the end of 2007 a big shock and huge problem occured, when new housing rows had been built right next to our wall and I was told to remove the dogs within 15 days... I then managed to negotiate with the authorities to give me 3 months to find and build a new home for the dogs where they will not bother anyone anymore and can lead a life in safety and peace. With lots of financial and emotional support from wonderful animalfriends in Europe and also financial help from my dear mother, I could rent a suitable piece of land in the coconut forest not far from my house and start building a walled in home for the dogs. After three months it was finished so far that the dogs could move in there. They have everything they need there, and in fact they love the place. There are 3 different compounds to make sure the dogs are separated according to their social needs and don't bother each other. At the house are still quite a few dogs, the ones who need extra care, some which are not easy to socialize in bigger groups unsupervised most of the time, and the puppies of course. I take care of the animals in both places all by myself, it means more work and effort but it is well worth it if my dags by that can lead a life without hassle. The cats are also still at their cat run attached to the house. For the future I have plans to expand and improve the new dog home and also build a nice big compound for the cats where they will have a more interesting life in the middle of nature. The best solution would of course be that I live at the new dog home as well. But out of financial reasons this will probably remain a forever dream... |
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