A dog's dinner: Vietnam slaughters five million canines a year for food

The Asia Canine Protection Alliance has confirmed that over five million dogs are killed in Vietnam every year for food.

18:16 16 September 2014

Le Duc Chinh, coordinator of the Asia Canine Protection Alliance (ACPA) Vietnam, has said that over five million dogs are killed in the country year after year for food. The expert was speaking to the 2014 Vietnam Animal Welfare conference in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to the report, Vietnam ranks second on the list of Asian countries, which eat the most dog meat. China is on the top spot, killing at least 10 million dogs per year.

“We believe that the real number [of dogs killed] must be larger, because no country has regulations or laws that control the dog meat trade,” Chinh stated at the conference.

Meanwhile, Vi Thao Nguyen, co-founder of Yeu Dong Vat, told Tuoi Tre News that “animal welfare” can be understood as the best, most humane way for people to treat animals in order to minimize their pain.

“The definition of animal welfare is still strange and vague in Vietnam,” Nguyen said.

“Through this conference, I want to make the public understand more that any animal, any creature, needs to be satisfied with its basic welfare. Even if it is raised for food, it doesn’t deserve to suffer unnecessary pain.”