The Do Son Buffalo Fighting Festival took place in Vietnam on 7th September. Our team was  there to document the cruelty inflicted on these innocent creatures.

Animals Asia Animal Welfare Officer, Nguyen Tam Thanh reported back about what happened at this year’s event: 

“After we successfully persuaded the national government to stop funding the festival, the event was also no longer broadcast nationally on VTV6, however it was still shown on a local (Hai Phong) TV channel.”

As well as seeing the animal cruelty and slaughter that we have sadly come to expect from this event, there was also an accident at this year's festival when one of the organisers was injured after being trampled by a running buffalo.”

So far the local authority which organises the event and the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism have resisted our calls to put a stop to the event. It has only requested that the number of buffaloes used in future fighting festivals be reduced by a half. This doesn’t go far enough as even one buffalo caused unnecessary suffering is too many.

To help change public perception of buffalo fighting and other animal festivals, we are running an art competition in Vietnam. Below you’ll see some of the entries. They depict horrific scenes from the festival as well as a nation in which the Vietnamese and buffalo can live in peace and harmony. Copies of the winning artworks will be sent to the Ministry and the festival organisers to show them what the public really thinks of these bloodthirsty spectacles.

We can only shed light on cruelty like this through investigations on the ground. 

Donate today to help us carry out this costly work and apply pressure to end animal exploitation throughout Asia.

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