Tae Yoon: Life from 2006-2021

of the many things i appreciate about thailand and its culture, one would be its kindness for stray animals.

there are stray cats and dogs everywhere in bangkok, but i've never once seen anyone mistreat them. in fact, it's the complete opposite---people are usually warm and kindhearted towards the animals and always give them food as well. a lot of the cats and dogs are healthily overweight and just sleep all day on the sidewalks, and passersby have no problem stepping around them and leaving them be. the animals are completely harmless as well and i haven't seen any act aggressive towards people. i did seem to recognize however that not a lot of the animals seem really happy. sometimes i'll attempt to get their attention or try and play with them but they'll barely act like they give a shit. i've also noticed that not a lot of the dogs wag their tails or walk around with any excitement, which is sad to see. that's when the following question popped into my head: are cats and dogs happier as pets with owners? yeah, there are stray cats and dogs everywhere and in every city, but i've seen a substantially larger amount of stray animals in comparison to domestic ones with owners in bangkok. i don't know, seeing how listless and indifferent the stray cats and dogs of this city are made me wonder if they'd be happier living with a human that they could have some sort of relationship with. i pondered the idea that perhaps cats and dogs have been domesticated for so long that it can feel innately unnatural for them to not have a home with a human. when a household does have a cat or dog as a pet, it seems like a win-win situation and both parties are happy with the companionship. but maybe these animals are depressed because it's within their genes to be pets and they don't know what they're missing out on?