Vietnamese riots over dog thefts

I saw this article today and I thought I'd share as this is something particularly close to my heart. While living in Vietnam I saw many a puppy bred then bundled away by the moto man, destined for dog meat restaurants it might be "a different culture" but it broke my heart (and incidentally it isn't even part of their culture. Korean immigrant workers introduced the eating habit to Vietnam only about 60 years ago, so it's not even traditional Vietnamese food )

Anyhoo, it seems that some people are fighting back against the dog nappers who are stealing their pet dogs to sell for food. It seems to have ended with a number of deaths

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...amdogwars.html

This story particularly resonates with me as the first dog stolen was an adult dog named Black (or Moon in Vietnamese). There was no way I could gave left my darling Moon out there. If the family's child hadn't beaten him to death (which he appeared to be trying to do in several occasions) then I fear he would have been stolen for dog meat...actually I wouldn't have put it past his family sell him we think they already sold one of their dogs, little Mon. Sweet friendly little girl, had lived with the family a number of years. One morning I saw her on a chain which was unusual, normally she ran free and Moon was chained. That evening she was gone and never came back the owner swears she "ran away" but I don't buy it for a second. And don't defend him buy saying he was poor, he was just greedy! He was getting paid an awful lot of money (far more than any other local) to house our western staff in his site, no way could he have really needed the few dollars a small dog would bring in. How can you live with an animal for years and do that?

Here is the beautiful little Mon



And just for good measure, a photo of my gorgeous boy who didn't get eaten and escaped Vietnam if I had to, I'd do it again a thousand times. God, I miss him so much





Anyway, I digress. Forgive me, but this is something very close to my heart.

I found it interesting to hear of them fighting back but before you celebrate too much, take the time to read the last line of the article. It really does sum up the Vietnamese attitude towards animals, just when you think its getting better, some how they still manage to miss the point

There are a lot ignorant societies and some cultures (but then all cultures and societies are ignorant when it comes to different things) when it comes to animals, it's a sad fact but it's brilliant that they are starting to stand up for it all. I haven't read the article yet, but will read later..