The Heartbreaking Story of Hanako
Hanako was brought to the Soi Dog shelter by 3 Thai ladies who found her in the car park of their complex. She was emaciated, had a high temperature and showed signs of an injury that had since healed.

Our best guess is that she was involved in some kind of accident, xrays showed she had suffered a broken pelvis. Her high temperature was caused by a pneumonia infection, her frail little body was covered in lice, fleas & ticks.
The earlier injury had left her almost unable to walk, she was showing signs of severe nerve damage to her rear legs & did not have full control of her front legs. Clearly this little girl was going to need lots of help to overcome multiple problems. Dr Su & her team immediately started treatment for Hanako's pneumonia & performed tests & xray's to get a full picture of her health.
Hanako's earlier pelvic injury had healed but we suspected it may have been the cause of her nerve damage. A program of physio and assisted walking exercises were started to try and build up her muscles. At first it seemed she had no control of her back legs at all, but after several days she began to take small steps. This was seen as a very good sign & raised hopes that she could learn to walk again.
The Thai ladies who brought her in came to visit Hanako and brought lots of treats for the dogs. Hanako had such a captivating look, a mix of vulnerability & cheekiness & it was not hard to fall in love with her. We first met Hanako 3 days after she arrived on a visit to the clinic to see how Shiver was coming along. Hanako was in the next cage wearing her welcome smile. When we got home we couldn't stop thinking about her & what we could do to help.
On our next visit to the shelter Hanako was having walking lessons with Hanna, an English volunteer vet who had a soft spot for this little girl. She mentioned that Hanako needed more practice than the busy shelter staff could provide. Could we do that? Dr Su would be happy to let Hanako come home with us providing she came back every 2-3 days for a checkup. So complete with cage, bags of tablets, a bag of food, & smiling Hanako we set of for the 1 hour drive home.
Hanako still had pneumonia but so long as we didn't let her get cold all would be O.K. She loved her food which was good to see & she devoured her tablets as long as we wrapped them in yummy cream cheese. Her favouite food was chicken breast with a little rice, & if she decided not to eat, a little sprinkle of parmasan cheese on top did the trick.

She wasn't the easiest house guest, although she tried to go outside to the toilet she didn't always make it. We only had one "no go" area in the house & that was a shag pile carpet (dog poo & shag pile are not a good mix) so where did she insist on going? She would scuttle around the house always heading for the carpet & when found laying in the thick pile would give you such a cheeky smile it was impossible to tell her off. Hanako never made sound, not a bark or a whimper, she could let you know if she wasn't happy, she had a very good struggle that said NO!
We went out & bought a length of artificial grass so she had her own carpet, it became her runway, she would walk/crawl up & down always ending up lying looking out to sea. She was making good progress on the walking front but she did drag her feet a bit and it was grazing the tops of her feet. The answer was socks, we managed to find tiny dog socks which we taped on so they didn't come off.
We decided the beach was a better surface for her to walk on so we set off twice a day for beach walking. Hanako took to it like a duck to water, her walking style certainly turned a few heads. She didn't have full control of her back legs & they often got crossed bringing her to a sudden stop. The solution was just wait, someone will come and uncross them for me. Many people asked what was wrong with her & we explained about her & Soi Dog. After about a week she had attracted quite a following at Kata Beach, people were commenting on how much better she was doing.
She loved the sand, rolled in it, dug in it, covered our car in it. Those hours spent sitting on the beach with Hanako will always be our best memories of her. She seemed so contented to just watch the waves roll in & observe the people strolling by, she was a nosey little girl & never missed a thing.

Her trips back to see Dr Su went O.K. at first, then on one visit her blood test came back with poor results, she had high white blood cell & platlet count. Hanako would have to stay at the clinic for more intensive treatment to get her pneumonia under control.
Gone was the appetite, it was proving hard to get her to eat, we tried fish, bacon, cheese, sausage, nothing seemed to work. We were so worried about her we took her back to see Dr Su one afternoon. Her blood test was not good & sadkly Hanako was admitted to the clinic again. We came to visit the next day & she was no better, as we were about to leave Gill asked if we would like to take Hanako home. Gill told us that Hanako had a collasped lung & there was only a 50/50 chance she would last the night. The thought of her dying on her own in the clinic was too hard to bear, so we agreed to take her home with us.
We had her in our bedroom overnight & checked on her regularly, jumping up at the least little sound. Morning came & her little smiling face greeted us. we will always remember picking her up that morning & her cuddling up under our chin as she always did. It was a real gift to feel that again. We took her back to the clinic the next day & everyone was so relieved to see her. However Hanako had to stay, she was too sick & needed intensive treatment.
Dr Su had tried everything to get Hanako's pneumonia under control.She contacted the senior vet in Phuket to ask his advice but was told she had done everything possible. She also spoke to a veterinarian professor in Switzerland to see if he had any advice. Hanako's only hope was rest which might help re-inflate her collasped lung.

We had booked a holiday in Greece, but as the time drew near we wished we weren't going.
Then suddenly good news, Hanako had started eating again, it was such a relief. We went to visit her the day before we left, she got excited to see us, we spent half an hour with her. Her little body felt so frail, it was a moment when you knew this may be the last time you would hold this dear girl. We both said a very teary goodbye, knowing it may be the final time but hoping desperately she would still be there when we returned to Thailand a few weeks later.
News reached us on the island of Thassos, we were both devastated not only for her death, but that we were not there in her hour of need. Soi Dog did all they could for little Hanako everyone wanted her to survive. It was a pleasure to have known her, she put such a joyous face on disability. Never once did she complain, she just took life as it came & gave so much pleasure in return. Hanako didn't want to be disabled, she put everything she had into overcoming her problems, it was an inspiration to watch her fight. Volunteering at a shelter can be so rewarding, there are days of such joy seeing animals find new homes. There are also days of grief when you just can't do enough. They say don't get too involved but how can you not get involved when you are surrounded by such beautiful animals everyday. They only ask to be loved & how can you deny them that!
Thank you Hanako for letting us share your short life, it was not in vain you gave us many great memories.

Cindy & Derek (Soi Dog Volunteers)

Visit Soi Dog's page to find out about how you can help build Hanako's Hospital.