Temple dogs

Buddhist monks must never harm a living thing. Usually they will not even kill a mosquito. To kill anything, even a mosquito, is to make bad karma. If you go to a Buddhist temple it is OK to wear an insect repellent to keep the mosquitos away from you but you shouldn't kill them.

Lots of animals seem to know that they are safe in a Buddhist monastery and they make their way there. If there is a river next to the wat often the fish come to that spot and monks or other people feed them. There is even one temple in Thailand that is famous because of the tigers there. No one harms the tigers and the tigers don't harm anyone but they are still wild tigers.

In Thailand there are many stray dogs. People often feed stray dogs because that is a way of making merit. Often the dogs find their way to Buddhist temples and the monks look after them. It is usual to see lots of dogs as well as other animals in Buddhist temples in Thailand.

When I visited Wat Phayup with Nid we saw this dog. Its back legs seemed to be a little crippled. It could still walk but its legs didn't work properly. If it tried to scratch itself with its left hind leg, the leg wouldn't reach the itchy spot. The dog would keep trying but just kept going around in circles. We felt sorry for this dog but in the end he needed to scratch his right side and that worked. So then we were happy for it.

love from Grandpa