Saving one abused dog at a time in Thailand
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Who is Tina and why is she important?
This sweet golden retriever is Tina, named after the legendary Tina Turner. Thanks to her owner, Niall Harveson, she's an internet celebrity, raising awareness of Niall's mission to rescue and rehabilitate abused dogs and street dogs in Thailand, his adopted country.
Hello and welcome to The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Sunday, May 11th, 2025. Niall's new book, The Dog Who Changed the World, is on bookshelves now.
In it, he documents Tina's legacy and what's next in the fight to save even more dogs or bringing about a fix to this persistent global issue. Thanks for joining us on the excerpt, Niall. Thanks for having me. Niall, you wrote about hitting what's known as rock bottom as the entry point to your rescue work. Can you share more about that turning point for you?
What was Niall's turning point in his rescue mission?
Yeah, I mean, I started my life in the corporate world and I actually escaped to Thailand when I sold my business. I wanted to sort of lie on the beach and relax. But unfortunately, I actually was an alcoholic and I nearly drank myself to death. So I ended up in ICU in hospital, really rock bottom, nearly, you know, literally nearly drank myself to death. And I had to rethink my life completely when I was lying in that hospital bed. And I decided that my mission would become to save dogs if I was lucky enough to survive. And I did survive. And that's what I've gone on to do.
Let's turn to the namesake of your latest book. How did Tina come into your life and what was her rehabilitation like? Then you say she started a movement. How did that come about?
How did Tina's rescue change Niall's life?
Well, when I got out of hospital, I actually just started feeding one dog, two dogs, literally on a very small scale. And it quickly grew then to the stage where I was feeding 80 or 100 street dogs myself. And we now actually feed 1,200 every single day with fresh food. But we also rescue dogs. And one day I came across a beautiful dog, Tina. She was on a chain. She wasn't beautiful when I first saw her. She was... chained up, she'd been used for breeding, terribly malnourished, and she was close to death. So she kind of reminded me of myself. And I rescued her, which was tricky, but she blossomed back into the most beautiful golden retriever you could ever imagine. And unfortunately, it wasn't straightforward.
The damage had been done already with Tina and her kidneys were really bad. So she actually only lived for six months. But in those six months, she inspired me by not living in the past. And she really just had this magnificent outlook on life and was a wonderful, wonderful creature. And she inspired me to go on and do wonderful work in her name. And we're building a hospital We sterilize, which is neutering or spaying 7000 dogs every single month. And we obviously rehabilitate more dogs. So a lot of that has been done in Tina's name.
You mentioned commenters on social media who often say, Niall, take that one home with you, but that you couldn't possibly take them all because it would distract from your mission. And just the numbers that you're talking about, that just wouldn't be possible. When did you know that Tina was going to live with you and be your dog?
Pretty much straight away. I brought her home the first night and we had this incident where she was incredibly skinny because she hadn't been fed. And it's actually a thing called refeeding syndrome. So I thought the best thing to do for a skinny dog would be to give her a big wholesome meal. Turns out that's the worst thing to do. I nearly killed her because her stomach expanded with gas and really, really dangerous. So I made a mistake. She was in my apartment and she nearly died two days after saving her. So from that very, very early day, she was with me and we had a very, very close bond and she survived luckily. And we went on to have loads of time together, but not enough. I still miss her on a daily basis, but her sort of being and just her presence has inspired me to go on and help so many other dogs.
How has the rescue operation impacted the communities that you work in?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who is Tina and why is she important?
0:04–1:05
2
What was Niall's turning point in his rescue mission?
1:05–1:53
3
How did Tina's rescue change Niall's life?
1:53–7:24
4
What challenges do street dogs face in Thailand?
7:24–7:44
5
How does Niall's rescue operation impact the community?
7:44–9:03
6
What is the process for rehoming rescued dogs?
9:03–10:04
7
How does Niall use storytelling in his mission?
10:04–10:54
8
Who are some of the other dogs Niall has rescued?
10:54–12:12
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The Excerpt
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