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Loading...Dognapping For Meat Growing Problem in Thailand
Pet dogs are being snatched in increasing numbers to feed the restaurant trade in dog meat elsewhere in South-East Asia.
Thai police have reported a growing problem with 2,000 dogs seized in the last six months. However, despite more seizures, the Soi Dog Foundation claims that this is barely scratching the surface, saying that 1,000 are exported every day.
Most are strays bound for Vietnam and China where dog is considered a delicacy. But at one shelter for rescued dogs in Buriram, one quarter are stolen pets.
Paisarn Pattanadejkul, the head vet at the shelter, says that hundreds of people come looking for their lost dogs, but only one has been reunited with his owner so far, although he died afterwards from a disease he picked up. The shelter is bursting with dogs but, the vet says, “we are a Buddhist country that believes in reincarnation, so to kill the dogs is a sin.”
Capt Teerakiet Thong-aram patrols the Mekong River to try to prevent the smuggling of both dogs and drugs across the border.
“Dog meat is not popular in Laos. It’s just a passageway. This is the easiest way for smuggling,” he said.
Dogs with dark fur as the most lucrative as their meat is claimed to have a distinct taste. Many pets are stolen before Christmas as demand for dog meat rises before January’s Chinese New Year.
According to the Soi Dog Foundation, dogs are killed by being skinned alive because of the belief that the pain inflicted leads to the tenderizing of the meat.
Pet stealing and smuggling over the border is illegal but not rounding up strays into cages. Animal cruelty is also not illegal in Thailand where the introduction of animal welfare laws has been discussed but delayed for many years.
Related stories:
Racing Greyhounds Fed Raw Meat Unfit for Human Consumption as Way to Cut Costs
Are Elephants Being Eaten in Thailand?
News Station Admits Market Doesn’t Actually Sell Dog Meat
Read more: animal welfare, china, dogs, laos, thailand, vietnam
Photo from toolmantim via flickr
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Recent Comments from Causes
Thank you.
Amoral. The seniors that allowed this should be penalised by the legal system.
foie gras is cruel and inhumane, how can it be considered a "delicacy"? Barbarians!
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234 comments
+ add your ownNigel A.
I am 100% agree with you. People who eat dogs develop cancer. Thailand is a buddhist country, the government (or the whole world) should make the law more strict and should not tolerate this kind of barbaric cruelty.
The horrible ways animals are treated because they are considered food is unfortunately the same regardless of where you live. Eating dogs, horses, cats, even rabbits, I feel is wrong. I also feel that treating farm animals savagely is also wrong. I have been asking myself for a long time why we are constantly told that you can't live without eating meat. That is not true, nevertheless you need to know where to get a source of nutritious plant proteins to supplement your diet. It takes effort and a lot of discipline, but it can be done.
The authorities in these countries are clearly failing in their action to counter animal abuse - the world needs to stand up and tell them that this behaviour is morally wrong - it brings shame on all of us when humans act this way.
It is so very hard to imagine skinning any animal whilst it is still living and then going home to your family as though you have done a good days work. In Australia, we would regard someone who did this as insane and a threat, they would be stopped. Our society is not perfect, but the message would be loud and clear that this kind of barbaric cruelty is not tolerated by the mainstream.
Thank you for sharing.
these people CANNOT be buddhists They only hide behind the word buddhist A true buddhist respects animals and the land,treats with respect This gives a BAD NAME for BUDDHISTS
I lived in Bangkok for a year and loved the people and the country. But all over Asia there is not the same regard for companion animals most of us have in the US. It is sad and disappointing that the Thai people, who are mostly Buddhists, would tolerate this. They must put animal cruelty laws in place. We all need to do what we can to pressure the world to respect the lives of the animals who share this planet with us.
The problem with most people in the Far East is they are stupid, uneducated, vile people. If I had the power I would wipe these evil people who do this kind of thing off the face of the earth, and the world would be a beter place without them
They are all mentally ill. I wish they could all die... This is horrible.
Cruel evil vile thugs all to do with money they could not care a toss about how the animal suffers sick indivuiduals.
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