Mr Hung had bought and slaughtered up to 20,000 dogs over the past seven years, but said the dog meat trade broke his heart and weighed too heavily on his conscience to continue any longer.
One of the 44 remaining dogs who were rescued from the facility.
Credit: Chau Doan/AP Images for HSI
A dog meat fattening facility and slaughterhouse in Vietnam has
closed down for good after its owner had a change of heart.
Based in Thai Nyguyen, Mr Hung’s facility had bought, sold, and
slaughtered up to 20,000 dogs for the meat trade over the past seven
years.
Killing the animals weighed heavily on Mr Hung’s conscience, and he
was relieved when he discovered the Humane Society International’s
(HSI) Models for Change program, which helps support and facilitate
business owners in the dog meat trade who want to exit the industry.
After reaching out to the program, HSI’s rescue team visited Mr
Hung’s facility and removed the remaining 44 dogs, including 19
puppies who were just days old.
Before the facility closed, Mr Hung would be delivered around 50
puppies every one or two months from local traders, who source the
puppies from rural communities by traveling from village to village.
At the facility, the puppies would then be kept in filthy cages
without veterinary care and fattened up for several weeks or months
until they were ready for slaughter.
Mr Hung sold the dogs to local slaughterhouses and restaurants, but
he also killed one or two dogs himself every day, with a knife to
the jugular or heart, in full view of other dogs. HSI say that this
cycle of suffering and brutality eventually broke Mr Hung’s Heart.
In an emotional statement, Mr Hung explained to HSI’s team that “I
looked into their pleading eyes and saw their tails nervously
wagging as I approached, and each time it got harder to do. They
came to me as happy little puppies so full of life, but soon became
traumatized and afraid. It just broke my heart in the end. Dogs are
so loyal and friendly, selling or killing them felt like a betrayal
that weighed heavily on my conscience.”
“When I heard that HSI’s Models for Change program had helped
another trader in Thai Nguyen close his dog meat slaughterhouse and
restaurant last year, I was relieved to know there was a way for me
to start my life over without having to kill animals for a living.
I’m excited for my new business and to know that all my dogs will
have the happy life they deserve with families who will look after
them.”
Relieved to no longer have to kill animals for profit, Mr Hung now
plans to open an agricultural store for crop farming in the local
community.
And the 19 rescued puppies were taken by HSI to a custom-made
shelter at the local University of Agriculture and Forestry, where
they were vaccinated against rabies, and will receive medical care
and rehabilitation before being made available for local adoption.
Vietnam’s Dog Meat Trade
In Vietnam, figures estimate that five million dogs and one million
cats are slaughtered each year for their meat.
According to HSI, most of the slaughtered dogs are stolen pets or
strays snatched from the streets using poison bait, painful taser
guns, pincers or ropes, or imported from surrounding countries such
as Cambodia.
The sale and consumption of dog meat is not illegal in Vietnam, but
there are punishable offenses for unregulated trans-provincial
movement of dogs and pet thefts.
“While dog meat remains prevalent in some parts of the country,
there is also increasing opposition to the practice among the rising
pet loving population in Vietnam who are frustrated by the lack of
action taken against unscrupulous dog thieves and traders who steal
people’s beloved companions”, says Phuong Tham, Humane Society
International’s Vietnam country director.
Despite there being no scientific evidence, some consumers believe
that dog meat has medicinal properties and can increase male
virility. Contrary to popular belief, dog meat is not an expensive
delicacy, but costs around 150,000 - 200,00 VND ($6 - $8) per dish.
Positive Progress Against the Global Dog Meat Trade
An estimated 30 million dogs are killed for human consumption every
year across Asia, according to Humane Society International. This
includes around 10-20 million dogs that are slaughtered in China, 2
million in South Korea, 1 million in Indonesia, and around 5 million
in Vietnam.
However, support for the trade is on the decline, and there is a
growing animal protection movement across Asia that opposes the
consumption of dog and cat meat.
This trend has been reflected in the growing number of government
bans on the practise in recent years.
In 2020, Shenzhen became the first city in China to ban the
consumption of dog and cat meat, and the Indian state of Nagaland,
infamous for its ‘hidden’ dog meat trade, also recently announced a
complete ban along with heightened legal enforcement.
Perhaps most notably, campaigners welcomed a “watershed” moment in
the fight against the dog meat trade when the Indonesian capital
city of Jakarta, South-East Asia’s biggest city, outlawed the dog
and cat meat trade earlier this year.