In Niall Harbison’s work helping street dogs, a little kindness can go a long way.
“Sometimes … they’ve seen so little hope that when you give them … a bit of shelter or food,” he says, “you can definitely see some of them change completely.”
Mr. Harbison, too, finds hope as he cares for canines. Born in Northern Ireland and raised in Brussels, the former chef has struggled with addiction for much of his life. While recovering after a near-death experience in Thailand a few years ago, he started feeding several street dogs. Those humble acts soon led him to found the nonprofit Happy Doggo, which, along with its international partners, helps hundreds of thousands of dogs each year in Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia. The organization provides meals for 1,200 dogs a day; neuters, spays, and vaccinates dogs; and works to rehome some canines.
Why We Wrote This
Dogs have been called man’s best friend, but the ones on Thailand’s streets are often overlooked. The nonprofit Happy Doggo strives to meet the basic needs of many canines. The group’s founder says fellow dog-lovers have taught him to “enjoy the little things in life that we have.”
Much of Happy Doggo’s growth has been powered by publicity leading to individual donations, says Mr. Harbison. He notes that his large following on social media has been “massive for us.” He wrote the 2023 memoir “Hope: How Street Dogs Taught Me the Meaning of Life” and a new book, “Tina: The Dog Who Changed the World.”
Mr. Harbison spoke with the Monitor’s Jacob Posner during a visit to Boston in mid-May. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: You write about dogs with great specificity and feeling. Why are you so drawn to them?
They’re very loyal. They live in the moment. They don’t judge you. You could come home in a suit, or you could be picking up the garbage. They don’t care what job you do, how much you earn.
Q: Reading your books, I was struck by how emotionally difficult the work can be.
What keeps me going [are the dogs] we’ve saved and rehomed. I’ll go on my phone and look at pictures, if I’m sad in the evening, and just see their new life. But we’ve seen dogs who have been shot and poisoned, and trying to wrap your head around the human cruelty is really hard.
Q: Do you have an ultimate goal?
There’s 500 million street dogs in the world. And my goal in my lifetime is to [halve] that number. To do that, it’s going to spill into legislation, government funding, and partners. So those are the next parts of the mission.
Q: What goes into the work of helping a street dog? We’ve talked about sterilization and meals, but what else are you doing?
The dogs kind of always have the same problem: It’s where humans interact with the dogs. So it’s, like, road-traffic accidents. Around farming areas, [a dog] might eat a chicken, so the farmer gets angry and does something. [There’s] overpopulation, so humans, when they start to build into [dogs’] territory, the dogs get pushed out. Then [there are] diseases, fights with each other over territory, and then just general stuff like ticks and fleas. It’s a lot of different levers.
Q: Why do you think people are so drawn to what you do?
Obviously, people like dogs. The other is, I talk about depression and anxiety and addiction. I think, like, 80% of people are carrying something behind their happy face. It could be something like grief, [illness], losing a child. Everybody has some sort of baggage. I just always try to remind them that that’s fine. Like we all have something, and we should just be a bit nicer to each other. I did a book signing this morning, and some people were telling me it was even a struggle for them to come in.
Q: Is it difficult to have all these people sharing dark things?
I’m not going to lie; it’s hard. The only reason I share it is because when I was in my dark times, I remember trying to find [help] – there’s not much information [on how to recover from substance misuse, anxiety, or depression]. Guys, especially, are not great at talking about it. That’s why I talk about it now. I’m always so open because there’s still stigma attached to everything.
Q: You write in “Tina” that it “may sound silly comparing my own life to dogs, but that’s what I do all the time.” What do you mean?
There’s probably two examples. Tina was physically shackled and used for puppies, and I feel like, my whole life I was an alcoholic and mentally shackled maybe, or just not living my full potential, so I compared myself in my head to her. And then, Hope, another one, she’d been stabbed, shot with a nail gun, so she kind of reminded me of my mum, like, that she had been abused.
Q: What have you learned about responsibility from the experience of saving the lives of other beings?
I’ve held a lot of dogs as they’re dying, or comforted them in the last moment. And there’s always a moment – I’ve seen it, like, 10 times at least – where, just as they’re about to die, like last breath, they look at you straight in the eye. They’re just happy that you’re there, that they’ve got comfort.
Q: You write movingly about the role of dogs in your recovery. Why do you think dogs have that power?
They’re very good at molding themselves around your needs, so if you’re maybe nervous, sometimes they’ll comfort you. You have to walk a dog, so it gets people out of the house. I think they’re just wonderful companions, and they’re very good at understanding their owner’s needs. Dogs used to be scavenging for food outside, and they’re now in our beds.
Q: Are there any values you’ve learned from telling stories on social media and hearing from people?
I get a lot of messages, and I see how many personal issues people have, like everything from suicide to addiction to more mundane stuff.
But it’s really opened me up to just be more humble and kind of enjoy the little things in life that we have. Rather than always chasing, chasing, chasing whatever it is.
Q: Can you talk more about the role that hope plays in your work?
If you don’t have hope, you’ve got nothing. The dogs that I work with have none.
It’s a very tough environment. I think the world is a bit low on hope at the moment. But if you’ve got hope, you’ve got something to pin your future on.
