Man's best charo

No, this post is not complaining about the stray dogs or sleepless barking nights in Thimphu. It is also not about high-tech ear plugs. Instead, I'd like to share information about a high-value service that might not be easy to find.

A few months ago a couple of dogs have adopted us. Over time the relationship became mutual (they bark in both Hebrew and Dzongkha), and so we thought that it would be a good idea to vaccinate them. Back in the West, we'd look up "vet" with our zipcode on the Internet, check customer reviews (and people can get very sensitive when it comes to their pets!), call a vet, make an appointment, bring the dogs over to the clinic, get them vaccinated and shell out a big amount of cash.

How to do this in Thimphu? Looking up "veterinary" in the Thimphu section of Bhutan Telecom's telephone directory gets you a few leads (see image), though you'd have to figure out which is the right one. Searching online for "Thimphu vet" doesn't take you too far... I took the low-tech old-fashioned way and contacted our friend Marianne from Pilou Bhutan Animal Rescue & Care, who gave me the information. Let me supplement it with our excellent personal experience:

Vaccinating dogs and cats in Thimphu is done by the Chubachu Veterinary hospital (02-322432). Their immunization service beats my Western experiences hands down: Being car-free, we couldn't bring the dogs to the hospital. Instead, the wonderful Dr. Kinley arrived after 30 minutes with a team of two helpers. They vaccinated our dogs (free!), gave de-worming tablets (free!), and registered them (Nu. 120 per dog). The dogs were a bit surprised, but it's for their own good. No wonder that Thimphu hasn't had a rabies outbreak since 1992.