Authors and Their Water Buffalos

Now, that I have your attention (I am not putting you on either), I would like to introduce you to Dr. Stewart McFarlane, Author of the wonderfully spiritual book:

  

Of Mice and Zen.

Animal Encounters in the Life of a Wandering Buddhist

Stewart McFarlane lives in Thailand.

These pictures are of his lovely wife Phai who used to work with those gentle beasts on her family's farm.

Now, Stewart and Phai have given their hearts over to stray puppies. 

Here are their latest rescues:

“This is about a brave little puppy who pretty much rescued himself, then helped rescue his brother and sister.

Last week he tagged along with my pack of four dogs at the reservoir near our home in Thailand. He was very friendly to me and the dogs. Full of scabs, ticks fleas etc. He wouldn't be left behind, so we brought him home, then straight round to the vets for blood tests and a clean up. He is clear of internal parasites etc, and will start his injections tomorrow. He seems to take everything in his stride and loves all the dogs & my family. He is about 3-4 months and is a charmer.

Sometimes you meet a dog and something just clicks and you know you cannot give them up. We are calling him "Long Ma" which roughly means "Origins unknown". Our rescued Bangkok street dog, "Soda" (11 months old) has appointed himself the guardian and playmate of Long Ma, with Pepsi our German Shepherd, as their leader. 

Back at the reservoir, our brave little puppy led us to an abandoned house, where we found his brother and sister, in a really bad state. No sign of their mother. I figured there would be other puppies around, but had no idea where to find them. Long Ma led us straight to them. They were really shy with humans, but are getting more confident with hand feeding. My two regular dogs and two others belonging to my sister in law, have already befriended them and are letting them get access to food first. I have already administered heart worm tablets and front-line. Since they are already sleeping in a house, with open access (ie no doors or windows), I am letting the 2 shy puppies stay there for now, but I have cleaned up and de-flead the rooms, and got them a comfy treated mat to sleep on. They are lovely puppies and will make fine dogs, given love, attention and some training.

Now we have daily doggie picnics at the reservoir, so Long Ma and his siblings can play together, and start getting used to people and a variety of dogs.”

Alpha Dog "Pepsi" Overseeing Picnic Protocol

And guess what? True to this animal lover’s tender heart, Stewart tells me now:

“They are all with us at home now, and are settling in well and getting stronger.”

(Obviously, they know a good thing when they found it).

Boss puppy Long Ma already learned how to stay and sit, and all are coming back to the whistle but – more importantly – Long Ma found a good place to snuggle with Stewart’s daughter Geem. (Now, there is a "wild" dog if I ever saw one...)

In his book, Stewart reminds us:

 Respect all animals and remember that dogs and humans belong together.

The domestic dog is an ancient companion of humans, and it is possible that domestication was taking place as we ourselves were emerging as a separate species. This helps us understand the close and symbiotic relationship between dogs and humans. I think it is reasonable to say that our attitude to animals and to nature is part of what defines us as humans.

When we are in harmony with nature and treat other species with respect, we elevate ourselves as human beings. I believe this is a spiritual and ethical matter. Of course, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and many indigenous and ancient religions endorse this attitude, but I think it applies whatever your personal belief system.

Respect for nature and kindness to animals are, I believe, fundamental human values, just as respect for and kindness to other people should be. I hope that the stories which follow help to illustrate that belief as it is actually lived, and hopefully, does so in an entertaining way.”

Stewart also tells me (probably in deference to Pasha) that there is a cat story in OF MICE & ZEN and some basic information on the cats of Thailand and that they have a literary history there.

And, since his book’s title mentions MICE, he shares his latest encounter:

“I was coming back from a long walk in the hills with my five dogs.
I stopped off to feed two stray dogs I have known since puppies. They live on waste ground near my house, and sleep in the shade of a huge tree. As they tucked into their meal of rice, mince and kibble, there was a rustle in the tree, and three tiny mice dropped own from the tree and came running past the dogs' noses and were sniffing round my feet for food.

The amazing thing is, these dogs ignored them. I would have expected stray dogs to gobble them up with their breakfast. But they just sniffed the mice & carried on eating. I got some rice & biscuit for the mice and put it away from the dogs. They happily tucked in. These mice seemed to know me and have obviously been feeding on the dog leftovers for a while. I have been used to seeing the mynah birds flying down to pick up the scraps, but I hadn't noticed the mice before.”

Obviously, the gentle world of Stewart McFarlane embraces all of God’s creatures, Great and Small.

Thank you, Stewart. We all do need reminding sometimes.

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Learn more about Dr. Stewart McFarlane and his life:

http://www.taichi-exercises.com
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stewart-McFar...