Illegal dog robbery raises moral questions
“It was such an unforgettable emotion that Tom came back with me,” said Minh Thao. Tom is a Vietnamese dog that Minh Thao cherishes so much. Her love for Tom has not ever changed since the time she knew that Tom was rescued after two weeks in a slaughterhouse. It is undeniable that she is so lucky that her pet was still alive in the slaughterhouse and came back safely with her.
However, not everyone is as lucky as Minh Thao. According to The Asia Canine Protection Alliance, an organization protecting dogs in Asia, dogs are taken from the streets and forced into cages so small that they can barely breathe. They have no food or water, and many die before they reach their final destination. The surviving dogs are taken to primitive slaughterhouses, markets and restaurants. Many have their stomachs pumped full of rice to increase their weight and thereby the profit of the ruthless traders. When I looked for some statistics from that, they said Vietnam had consumed 5 million dogs each year. Vietnam, along with South Korea and China lead dog eaters in the world.
Dogs can meet dangers whenever and wherever…
It is unbelievable that there are many closed groups on Facebook created by dog robbers. For example, I found the group named “How to poison dogs and where places supplying dogs most are.” The number of members in this group was more than 7 million people. And it seems to be impossible to approach these groups…
The method of robbing dogs is diverse but not all owners of dogs realize this. Lan, a woman living near the East Station is the owner of two dogs: a Labrador and a Rottweiler. I asked her why she ties her two dogs with chains near her house but does not seem to care about robbers. She said that they are fierce kinds of dogs so no one can approach them. But she does not know robbers can easily get her two dogs by throwing some delicious food containing poison. This food can attract dogs and make them die just after 5 minutes. However, there are still some people being careful of their pets. Nam, a man going for a walk with his cute poodle in Thanh Da Park is an example. He does not let his puppy run freely without being tied with a small chain. He thinks that poodles are a kind of energetic dog so it cannot wander without the owner.
The adventure to find robbed dogs has not been easy…
As I mentioned above, Minh Thao was one of very few people who can meet her dog again, especially when Tom was found in the slaughterhouse with 9 other dogs. She told that me she saw Tom bark a lot and really cried when he recognized his owner. He waved his tail but his back legs were bleeding so he could not run to her… His injury came from being dragged along the street. Coming back home with Minh Thao, Tom is still scared of being caught by robbers when Thao tried to touch his skin. If Thao had been late for some hours to rescue Tom, what would have happened?
An article in Soha is titled “19 days lying down to redeem the dog, the teacher is still denied.” It is the story of a poor teacher in Quang Nam who struggled for nearly 1.5 months in Saigon to find his Phu Quoc dog named Rex. The story has spread broadly on social networks. During the summer vacation, due to lack of economic conditions, Mr. Binh brought Rex by motorbike from Quang Nam to Can Tho to visit relatives. Then they had an accident near the Suoi Tien Park. In this accident, Rex was chased by a strange group of people and went missing from there. Thinking that Rex was gone forever, however, the group of young animal lovers found him at a family business in Ho Chi Minh City. They paid 5 million to redeem the dog, but the family refused. That family believed that dogs running into their house would bring good luck, so they did not let Rex return to Mr.Binh. And up to now, the man never has had a chance to meet Rex again.
So what can we do to reduce dog robbery?
According to Dogs Today, Hanoi’s authorities have announced that the sale of dog meat will be banned from the central districts of the city starting in 2021. But from now to 2021, how many dogs including your pet will be safe?
First, the owner of the dogs should have take responsibility with their dogs. Owners should let dogs play inside their home but not let them wander freely in the streets. If dogs cannot stand staying at home too long, owners can go for a walk with them and should not forget to tie them with a chain. In addition, owners should be alert to possible dangers such as strange food that the dog may want to eat, and strange people trying to approach the dog.
If your dog is in the worst situation (being robbed and even going into a slaughterhouse), you should find the dog as soon as possible. And in some emergency cases, you can find help from a dog S.O.S group or post a status on Facebook to find help from people. If you know your dog was certainly in the slaughterhouse, it is necessary to spend some money to release the dog.
The main reason that robbers want to get dogs is for the dog meat trade. According to Baomoi, at the end of each month or year, dog meat shops are always crowded with buyers. This comes from the fact that many Vietnamese people think that dog meat can make bad luck getaway during the month or even the year.
Dogs are always our loyal and intelligent friends, “a security guard” of our home… So dogs need more love from humans, the protection of laws and especially robbers should be punished more severely.
Some source in the Internet that i have used in my article
