Hope for Strays
Hope for Strays Foundation – East Pattaya
Home to around 200-220 dogs Hope for Strays is run by a couple and a small handful of staff. Due to the beginning of the coronavirus I only spent one day here but I definitely liked what I saw and want to come back again to volunteer longer.
Location: East Pattaya, Thailand
Costs: Free to volunteer
Daily expenses: Taxi to the rescue cost around 400baht by the Grab app as I was staying in Pattaya. Lunch 40 baht.
Accommodation: A cheap room not far from the centre costs around 300-400 bht per night, a pricer hotel option is available for 800 bht with a pool. No on-site accommodation available.
Daily tasks: Helping the staff with the cleaning of the runs and large open area, help to feed the dogs morning and afternoon, socialising, washing and laundry, help wherever needed. Its very hands on here so you can use your initiative. They always need help with fundraising and social media.
What I liked: Its quite a small rescue centre compared to some others so I felt you could really make a difference here and get stuck into various tasks and that they would be very grateful for your help. Som who I met was the lovely, she clearly loves dogs and it was obvious the dogs all loved her. She has a very good heart. The quality of the runs and rescue was very good and everything was clean. They feed dogs out on the street and have a good spay and neuter programme. I was only here for one day but I’m sure if you stayed longer you could really contribute to the running of the centre.
Other things to note: There isn’t a volunteer programme in place so you may find yourself the only visitor. It would be more suited to a couple, or a pair of a friends that are travelling together as it could be a bit solitary if you are on your own. But otherwise I really liked it here and you could definitely make a difference by helping out.
Would I recommend: Yes
Friends of Rescue Thailand 