ENDING THE DOG MEAT TRADE IN VIETNAM

Facts about the dog meat trade

Every aspect of the trade involves extreme levels of animal cruelty - from the theft of family companions, to deprivation, beating and final slaughter.

• The trade is mostly organised and run by criminal gangs.
• Every aspect of the trade involves extreme levels of animal cruelty; from stealing much loved family pets, to being beaten and crammed into tiny cages with many other dogs, being transported for hundreds of miles without food or water to be brutally killed with a knife to the jugular and heart, in full view of other dogs.
• Five million dogs are slaughtered for the trade in Vietnam every year (Four PAWS report 2020). This is equivalent to killing half of the UK’s dog population every year (PDSA PAW report 2022).
• Motivations for dog meat consumption In Vietnam, dog meat and associated products have strong links with custom, medicine, and dietary tradition.
•  A 2016-2017 study of samples from Hanoi slaughterhouses showed that one in every 100 dogs had been infected with rabies, which is a high incidence rate.
• The link between rabies transmission and the dog meat trade has been well established by the UN World Health Organization – around 100 people die of rabies each year in Vietnam – and the virus’s elimination is undermined by continued dog meat trade activities.
• The increasing incidence of zoonotic disease, such as rabies and Covid-19, is causing pain and damage to animals, people and our planet.

• While the sale and consumption of dog meat is not yet illegal in Vietnam, the unregulated trans-provincial movement of dogs has been illegal since 2009.
• However, enforcement of the law against transporting dogs is rare and trucks continue to openly transport hundreds of dogs at a time on national highways.
• Several cities in Vietnam, including Hanoi and Hoi An, have pledged to end the trade.
•  With more Vietnamese people becoming pet owners in recent years, there is a growing opposition to eating dog meat and a growing demand for the dog meat trade to be banned.

 
Holding place in Thanh Hoa.