Book review: ‘Hope’

Hope – How Street Dogs Taught Me the Meaning of Life by Niall Harbison. Harper, 2024. Softcover, 320 pages.

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Hitting rock bottom is sometimes the only way for someone to realize changes must be made. That is what happened to Niall Harbison, who had struggled with drug addiction and alcoholism, when he woke up in the intensive care unit of a Thailand hospital following yet another binge. A native of Ireland, Niall (a developer and owner of several successful businesses) had moved to Thailand when his personal life began falling apart. With only his rescued dog, Snoop, by his side, Niall made the decision to turn his life around and become sober in his adopted tropical paradise.

As he relates in his memoir Hope – How Street Dogs Taught Me the Meaning of Life, however, Thailand was not a paradise for all its inhabitants. In his neighborhood, he came across hundreds of street dogs and soon learned they were prevalent throughout his adopted country.

Unable to stand by and not help, he began feeding the dogs on a daily basis. With his own money (and eventually donations from other dog lovers), he started a spay and neuter initiative to reduce the number of street dogs over time. And eventually, he was able to build a shelter where senior dogs and those with illnesses could live out the remainder of their lives in safety and comfort.

Niall does not flinch from the conditions many of the dogs faced: hunger, injury, and illness. At times, the work seemed overwhelming and exhausting for him. What kept him going were the dogs themselves and how much they relied on his care. Just as the author was able to help the dogs, he credited the dogs for his continued sobriety.

Although there is a lot of suffering — both human and canine — detailed in this book, Hope is ultimately a work of quiet joy and a testament to how taking one step can lead to a life’s caring mission.

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