Introducing Donny Daredevil

For most street dogs, surviving in Bangkok is a day-to-day struggle in which dangers -- in the form of speeding cars and motorcycles, predatory fellow street dogs, disease, and poisoning by heartless humans, to name a few -- lurk around every corner. You might assume, then, that the chaotic life of a city stray would be anything but boring. And that's true for most dogs -- except for a crazy 4 year old white-haired mutt known on the street as Donny Daredevil.

The thrill-seeking Donny, who lives near Bangkok's Grand Palace, loves to play street games in which he risks life and limb -- and the gnashing teeth of Bangkok's mind-boggling array of vehicles are all too happy to oblige. He's seen here playing his favorite game -- called "Pancake" -- which consists of Donny positioning his tail in the roadway and then moving it out of the way just as a car is about to run over it, while of course managing to avoid getting run over himself.

Donny always gets this maniacal, glassy-eyed grin on his face after he has played this game for a few hours, after which his friends will team up to drag him to the safety of the sidewalk. He actually used to play Pancake using his front legs, but on one unfortunate occasion he was too slow to remove his left front paw, and it was severed by a passing cement truck. Luckily, a fellow street dog knew someone who knew someone in the emergency room at Bangkok General Hospital, and this doctor was able to re-attach Donny's left front paw -- although it's not completely straight, as you can tell from the photo.