Street Dogs and House Gates

I am fuming. And I really don't fume very often. Tim just came in with some really bad news. You see, Thailand has a phenomenon called street dogs. Actually, they're called "soi" dogs, as "soi" is the Thai word for a side street. Anyway, they're everywhere. And there's one that lives, more or less, in front of our house. Her name is Dang (appropriate) and she doesn't belong to anyone, but is kind of a neighborhood dog who growls viciously at outsiders but wags her tail at those she recognizes as neighbors. Also, it's important to understand that we remove our shoes before coming into the house. So quite a few shoes accumulate outside our door. Back to tonight, Tim came in a few minutes ago holding my brand-new (as in, just delivered last week by friends visiting from America) Chaco flip flops. They're beautiful and comfortable and cost more than one should really pay for flip flops, but as we wear them all the time, I thought it would be good to invest in some quality ones. Anyway, when he went out to take out the trash, he found the shoe in the street, with one strap chewed off. You should also know that most homes in Thailand have gates in front of them, and we unwisely left ours open today. And this is not the first occurrence. I bought Asa some brand new sandals when we were in America. He has worn them twice. And one of them has disappeared. Dang strikes again. I'm tempted to go out and take a picture of the offender for you, but I'm afraid I might say something I'd regret.