Crossing the Mekong river
The Mekong River is the 12th longest river in the world, running from the Tibetan plateau across China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The Mekong river is highly valued amongst people living in these countries as it has served as an excellent trade route for many generations. Many treaties and agreements have been drawn out in the past to allow fair use of the river as well as crossing the Mekong river for trading purposes.
One such traded commodity between Thailand and Vietnam is dog meat… with over 200,000 dogs smuggled through this trading route from North-East Thailand to their death in Vietnam. It is so terrible that dogs, which are beloved companions to many around the world, can be turned into meat for our dinner…
Please read the report below about how these poor dogs have to suffer. Do also watch the video. Dogs deserve to be treated better, they are one of the animals on Earth who are able to show love, care and loyalty towards humans… I have blogged before about some people who took action against these cruel smugglers that nabbed these dogs for trade… Do let me know if you are aware of anyone out there who are actively stopping such cruel trades.
Tsem Rinpoche
Smugglers drive Thailand’s grim trade in dog meat
by Peter Shadbold, for CNN
June 3, 2013 – Updated 1035 GMT (1836 HKT)
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/dogslaughterformeatinvietnam.mp4
(CNN) — Packed tight into wire baskets — sometimes 20 or more to a cage — animal rights activists say as many as 200,000 live dogs every year are smuggled from northeast Thailand across the Mekong River destined for restaurants in Vietnam.
Dehydrated, stressed, some even dying of suffocation on the trip, the dogs are often stacked 1,000 to a truck on a journey that lasts for days.
“Obviously when you’ve got dogs stacked on top of each other they start biting each other because they are so uncomfortable, any kind of movement then the dog next to the one that’s being crushed is going to bite back,” said Tuan Bendixsen, director of Animals Asia Foundation Vietnam, a Hanoi-based animal welfare group.
When they arrive in Vietnam, the suffering doesn’t end there. A common belief is that stress and fear releases hormones that improve the taste of the meat, so the dogs are placed in stress cages that restrict their movement.
Eventually, the dogs are either bludgeoned to death or have their throats cut in front of other dogs who are awaiting the same fate. In some cases, they’ve been known to be skinned alive.
“Dogs are highly intelligent animals so if you kill a dog and you have a whole cage of dogs next to the one that’s being killed, those dogs that are going to be killed next know what’s going on,” Bendixsen said.
According to animal rights groups, dog smugglers round up everything from family pets to Thailand’s ubiquitous strays — known as soi dogs — to sell the animals in Vietnam, or even as far away as China where a pedigree dog can fetch a premium price.
John Dalley of the Phuket-based Soi Dog Foundation estimates 98% of the dogs are domesticated and that some are even still wearing collars and have been trained and respond to commands.
“You can see all types of pedigree animals in these captured Thai shipments — golden retrievers, long-haired terriers, you name it,” says Dalley. “Some are bought. Others are snatched from streets, temples, and even people’s gardens.”
In the past, batches of stray dogs were traded for plastic buckets, but these days with demand soaring — especially in the winter months when dog meat is regarded as a “warming” food — a dog in Thailand can fetch up to $10. This figure jumps to around $60 once they are served up in restaurants in Vietnam.
Dalley says pet dogs, in particular, are targeted because they are friendlier and easier to catch.
Animal rights activists estimate that more than one million dogs are eaten each year in Vietnam; for the dog smugglers of the Mekong, business is booming.
It’s so inhumane … it’s quite literally hell on earth
John Dalley
While the trade is illegal in Thailand, and authorities have made a number of raids involving thousands of dogs, dog traders claim the laws are unclear and have even mounted counter protests against a series of crackdowns.
Smugglers are normally prosecuted under laws that prohibit the illegal trade and transportation of animals and, with no direct animal cruelty laws in Thailand, prosecutors attempt to charge smugglers with cruelty under Criminal Code laws.
The Soi Dog Foundation and the Thai Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals are fighting to change that and are currently working through the Department of Livestock Development to get an Animal Welfare Draft Law through the Thai Parliament.
The reality, however, is that smugglers often receive light sentences of just a few months in jail. Animal activists also say thousands of impounded dogs — rescued from smugglers — that end up in quarantine centers sometimes find their way back onto the streets and in the dog meat circle again.
“This is not about whether it is right or wrong to eat dog meat,” Dalley says. “It is about an illegal trade worth millions of dollars per year organized by criminals. The way in which these dogs are transported and, if they survive, killed, is horrific.
“Some of the footage we receive is so horrific it’s too strong even for the media to run. It’s so inhumane … it’s quite literally hell on earth.”
[Extracted from: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/02/world/asia/thailand-dogs]
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Mekong River is incredibly important for millions of people in China. It flows through many countries: China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and finally Vietnam. But weird and it is shocking to know the dogs cruelty, smuggling and trading just for the meat across Asia, through the famous river, What a cruel business. Need to be aware of visiting all this countries.
Personally I felt that the Mekong River is the bed to all things vice. The Golden Triangle which confluences Mekong River and Ruak River is one of the largest producers of opium and heroin! It is a place where humanity and lifes are not valued but brute force and cruelty are feared. It is very sad now that this place is also the bed for animal smuggling, making it literally a living hell on earth for all living beings.
As many as 200,000 dehydrated, stressed, some even dying of suffocation dogs were smuggled from Thailand along the Mekong river to Vietman .All those smuggled dogs ended in restaurant as meat.These poor caged dogs had to to suffer before their death either skinned alive or throat cut to serve as meat on dinner table.Cannot imagined that situation when they are killed.So horrible and inhuman how can the people do it.They desreved much better as our friend.
Hope the Thailand authorities will do more to stop these trading of dogs between the two countries. The smugglers should receive much more sentences when caught by the law.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this.
This is horrible! From fish to chicken, chicken to beef, beef to dog meat? What will the people kill next for food? It’s so unnecessary, dogs are animals, they are pets, not food! We have so many food choices, why dog meat? I’ve always believe that dogs are humans’ best companions.
Dear Rinpoche, I just found out in Youtube that dog meat are not only served in China, Korea and Vietnam. They also sell it in Africa, Indonesia and India. We shouldn’t judge them by what they are eating or sacrificing if it’s for religion then it may be a little bit acceptable. But it’s definitely not acceptable for business purposes or for fun.
this is so sad, how much pain and suffering these animals go through to feed people. all meat should not be eaten because the animals have a right to live, they have lives too. thank you Rinpoche for sharing this.
Sem comentários, é horrível demais!!!
No more pain
Monsters
they are not food
who eats dogs? wow this is sad. why would you eat a pet? its like eating your own siblings.
This is inhumane!!!! This needs to stop, psychos eating a creature with souls, men’s best friend, faithful companions for life :(((( May God help the dogs and ease their pain!
absolutely inhumane
… cruel humans… do you have to eat every living animal on this planet??? If you cannot get over your greed for meat, at least spare the poor dogs!!!
Please stop animal cruelty…These innocent and beautiful creature don’t deserve to be treated like this…Oh god.. please stop….
this is sad 🙁 i cant watch the video
i have a dog since i was small pls. let us help each other these innocent animals being killed. dogs are man’s best friend. its been a problem years ago just for money. i m sad reading about this article and i cant watch the video. pls. im from philippines lets help each other for animal rights i treated my dog as my baby. we sleep together and my dog never leaves me. pls pls pls
if you are a human being, stop killing dogs. we need them as a company, not as a food
Stop eating dogs pleace
Dear Rinpoche,
I just can’t believe there is still such a thing as people smuggling dogs in to Thailand not to be sold as pets but to be sold so that they can be slaughtered and then eaten.
It’s really sad to think that many people still love to eat dog meat. Even though dogs may be to many a life companion to many they are just regarded as meat to eat.
I hope that there will be a law agreed by all parts of the world to ban people from killing dogs for the sake of eating them.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this sad news:(
Love
Jutika
This is really disturbing, I couldn’t have described it better in any other way cause it literally is hell on earth. The process of which these dogs have to go through is totally inhumane and down right disgusting. I am really worried for those who are involved in the smuggling, killing and eating of dog meat. The level of fear, torment and torture before being killed to be consume of these dogs are unimaginable. I can just imagine the replacement of dogs as humans in their same position, obviously we wouldn’t want to be in their position, then why should we allow them to be in that position. These animals are capable of love, loyalty and compassion way beyond any of these humans can perform, how can they do this to them. This is awful.
I really hope those who consume dog meat are aware of what is going on behind the scene to have them on their plates, contemplate and realise what a cruel act they are performing by eating dog meat. I really do wish they would stop.
So sad that such a beautiful river, has been used for the wrong reasons. I hated watching that video. Its so sad that people would even eat dogs in the first place, i couldn’t imagine people actually eating and enjoying the dogs that we all love, terrible. And eating just isn’t enough for them, they have to torture them and make them suffer in the process, this has to stop someday.
please please…. leave animals alone! it’s time to make a change, yes the time is now. So please… help let’s help them, give them a voice, our voice. Humans made the hell on earth for animals :'( it’s so sad but remember, we all together can make a change, FREE FOR ALL, FREE FOR ANIMALS AND FIGHT FOR ANIMAL RIGHTS
The only way to cut down on animal sufferings is to cut down on eating meat. Less demand equates to less supply. Not only dogs are killed for human consumption, other animals are also bred and killed for the human taste buds.
Have a compassion for the animals. Be a vegetarian.
This is an awful practice but it’s quite ironic. People may get upset about this because it is about dogs, which we associate with pets, but those who eat pork, chicken, beef, must realise that those animals also suffer the same as the dogs. They are kept in inhumane conditions and killed in front of their own kind. There have been many records of the terror in the eyes of the animals before they are slaughtered.
We may think that Vietnam is a world apart from us and what can we do to affect this terrible practice. I guess the least we can do from the comfort of our homes is to share this news so that maybe it will reach people who can do something about it. Raising awareness is the first step.
This is so cruel! Having the dogs all cramped up in one small cage and beaten to death? What kind of human would do that? A dog is a man’s best friends, I really cannot understand why were they so cold blooded to kill those poor doggies. I can’t imagine the fears of the dogs have, they know what’s going on, and what they can do is just stay in the cage and then die, it’s horrible! I hope that for those people who have been consuming dog meat will consider to stop taking it..
Thank You for sharing Rinpoche.
Dear Rinpoche, I have no idea that humans are capable of eating animals without guilt. Most of the people in this world eats chicken, beef, goat and seafood, it’s also bad but humans are being raised that way. But because people are trying to invent new food so that they could get money, they kill other animals which are not from the food chain. Dogs are the closest animal to humans and how could anyone eat them without feeling guilt and say they tasted good? Watch this video below, it’s a about a female reporter eating dog meat and she said that dog meat are delicious.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVmrldELNZM&feature=player_embedded
With the disturbed human mind, anything can be classified as a delicacy. As long as we deem mankind to be more superior and are selfish, animals are always going to be at risk of being abused and tortured.
It is sick because our food source does not need to stem from animal carcasses. What goes in through our mouths comes out anyways. So why do we have to kill a being for something that will leave our body anyways and does not give any pleasure whatsoever. So what if our tastebuds are satisfied. Is it worth it by taking another being’s life. Then why not we consume human meat in general? Meat is meat regardless of where it comes from.
If we say that we need meat for iron, that is not true. Sun dried tomatoes, dried apricots, parsley, spinach are a few to name which have high iron content. Take it with fruits/veges high in vitamin C will increase the absorption of iron into the body (http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/fruits-and-vegetables-high-in-iron.php)
So..there is no need for torture, killing and consumption of animal carcasses. Because we have been taught by society to do so, doesn’t mean that it is morally and ethically right.
It’s a shame to know that Vietnam restaurants serve dog meats. Should create more awareness to educate everyone.
Why are the dog meats sold legally in the market. How caan they doing this to such cute dogs. Those people who smuggles the dogs should be punished. People should stop eating dog meat.
The less we depend on meat the less dogs we will have to kill.
I know it seems to you that it was strange i said that the less dogs we have to kill.I said that because if no one ate meat the slaughterhouse would not have to kill animals because no one will eat the meat.
Please do as much as you can to stop people from eating meat.
If we stop eating Animals meat, then market do not have demand on Animals meat, market no more demand, people would stop killing Animals.
Because of you, the world is lesser another meat eater, because of you, another Animal life is safe.
Thank You Rinpoche for the post.
Best Regrads : Eric kksiow
Animal trade has been a long known business activity over the centuries since the advent of “civilization”. Though as sick as it may seem, animals are still seen to have an influence on the palate of humankind. With such discordant practices of exporting dogs in such a manner, the media must really step up their coverage on these abusive acts as it will help mitigate such gruesome acts. It may work for mankind before but not now when the age of technology can provide food to help keep us warm without sacrificing another living being.
On a lighter note, animals rights activists are stepping up in doing their part to provide for the animals. Remember animals do not have the ability to speak like us to tell us how they feel. But they have feelings also which they are entitled to a right to their life!
Hope this goes viral and create awareness for these poor doggies. Here’s a link with a tad bit of good news that the media is doing something to raise awareness: http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sgseen/this_urban_jungle/1861260/outrage_over_annual_dog_meat_festival_in_china.html
Shelly tai on 7 July 2013 at 1pm
Is so hard to believe that dog meat are sold legally. The law maker really have to look into a law that protect these poor animal they do not deserve to be treated like that. How nice if everybody in this world pratice humanity than there will be less killing for this animal. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this blog post with us.
Cant stand this!!! Horrible!!! Hate this! We should really spread the awareness! Ho can this people so cruel! Sigh…. I am gonna share as much as I can to stop all this brutal trades!
It’s so horrific…..! 🙁
Why human so cruel?