This is Willy, named because we discovered that he had such a strong ?will? to live. One rainy night in front of our house in Bangkok I heard a crying sound. So I went out to investigate. I opened the gate to our drive and walked into the street and saw one of the street dogs that we take care of–feeding, bathing and trips to the vet for shots, emergencies and general care. His name is ?Scar? because someone had tied a plastic ribbon (the kind that is used commonly in Thailand to tie nearly everything) around his nose when he was younger that left a deep scar. Now he is a full-grown, brown and white dog with beautiful if somewhat sad yellow eyes. Next to him was a small but not tiny, dirty white puppy, and he was yipping and whining and going onto his hind legs so that he could get his face next to Scar?s face. It is not easy for humans to read animal body language, but every ounce of me told me that Willy was pleading for help and wanted a friend, or better, the father he never had.

I was of course curious about this new visitor to the neighborhood and called to Scar as I walked closer. When I got next to them, I saw that Willy was a baby, and that a full layer of the skin on his back had been ripped off?most likely from being dragged under a car (as nice as Thai people are, they sometimes hit dogs and rarely stop to help). I tried to pick him up by placing my hands under his belly, and when I did he really began to scream. Now I could see from the light of the street lamp that his back was not straight like it should be, but had a lump in it toward the end of his spine, which I assumed meant a broken back. Now I thought that rather than rescue him, the best thing to do would be to take him to the 24-hour vet clinic where we take all of our dogs and have him put out of his misery. Thai people are more reluctant than people in many other societies to euthanize animals, and when I suggested my idea to the doctor she said, ?Let?s give him 3 days and see what happens.? I looked at my wife and we both nodded our head in agreement, but I was skeptical. In the meantime the x-rays had come back and it seemed that he indeed had had a broken back when he was younger but it had healed, or more accurately, as the doctor explained, ?the bones had fused? together so that it was possible that he would be able to live a normal life, as long as he did not go out for any Olympic competitions. His back was coated with Betadine and we left with the understanding that we would return in 3 days and decide his fate.