A global animal welfare organization, Four Paws, has initiated a campaign across three major Vietnamese cities to advocate for the cessation of the dog and cat meat trade, according to state media reports.
Based in Vienna, Austria, Four Paws asserts that the methods used to kill these animals are inhumane and that consuming their meat poses significant health risks, including rabies and other diseases.
Dubbed the “Journey of Love,” the campaign aims to educate residents of Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, and Hanoi about the detrimental impacts of the dog and cat meat industry. Phan Thanh Dung, an officer from Four Paws’ Companion Animal Campaign, emphasized the urgency of addressing these trading activities due to the rising incidence of diseases and epidemics, as quoted by the Vietnam Law Newspaper.
According to Four Paws, approximately 6 million dogs and cats are captured, transported, and slaughtered for their meat in Vietnam each year, with many being stolen pets or stray animals taken from the streets. In wet markets, vendors openly sell both dead and live dogs and cats, the latter crammed into cages awaiting slaughter for human consumption, as documented by an August 2022 report from We Animals Media, an animal photojournalism agency.
While the sale and consumption of dog meat remains legal in Vietnam, the government initially banned the consumption of cat meat in 1998 but reversed this directive in 2020. The consumption of these meats poses risks of infection from deadly bacterial diseases and parasites such as E. coli and salmonella, which are commonly found in contaminated meats.
Animal rights organizations and local Vietnamese activists have long campaigned against the sale and consumption of dog and cat meat, highlighting the cruel conditions in which the animals are kept and the inhumane methods used for their slaughter, often in view of other animals.
In a notable victory for animal rights, Four Paws and the People’s Committee of Hoi An, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, successfully closed one of the city’s last remaining dog meat restaurants in late 2023.
A survey conducted by Four Paws in early 2021 revealed that 91% of Vietnamese respondents believed the government should ban the dog and cat meat trade. Additionally, 95% agreed that consuming dog and cat meat is not a part of Vietnamese culture and supported the move to end the trade.
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