HAVE YOU EVER RESCUED A DOG OR CAT FROM SLAUGHTERHOUSES?

The night I lost Bong, a dog who had lived with my family for 5 years, was a sleepless night for us. We were wandering around searching every corner; my phone was buzzing like crazy with a bunch of messages and phone calls informing about slaughterhouses’ addresses and dog premises in my neighborhood.

At 7 AM, my parents rushed to the first address while my siblings and I patiently waited for good news from Bong or just hoping for a ransom note (at that time there were some dog kidnapping incidents for monetary gain happening in my neighborhood, especially dogs from wealthy families were mostly targeted). My family wasn’t rich, but we were prepared if that was the case.
 

At 7:30AM, mom called to tell me about the first address, it turned out to be a place full of mutts (while Bong was a Japanese breed dog). My parents looked but he wasn’t there. Then, some nearby residents showed them the second place and they immediately headed there with little hope in mind.
 

8:30 AM, it was another call from mom, yet this time, we found Bong!
 

If you ever lost your buddy, you’d definitely understand my feelings at that time. On the other end of the line, my parents were crying, while my siblings and I also couldn’t hold back our happy tears.

We brought Bong back to our home, she was infested with mange and fleas. Aside from those things, Bong was finally back to us!
 

I currently live in a city in central Vietnam, where dognappers usually gather stolen dogs to a certain area, then send them to the North around 10AM. The owner of that yard said to my mom, “Your family is in luck. Just a little bit late and your dog could have been put on the truck at 10AM”.

 

Even now, my mom still can’t stand recalling the terrible experience at that place. Designer dogs, not to say, even palm-sized kittens were there curling up in cages. The strangest thing was that she hardly heard them making any sound. A yard full of pet cages without a single sound? How could it be? There is one question that still lingers in my mom’s mind to this day - how cruel was that for such tiny kittens to be put into slaughterhouses? The yard looked wet, maybe it was for odor elimination. She even took a peek inside and shockingly saw some guys slaughtering a cat…

After that horrible incident, my mom cried for the whole day. She said she’d only dared to glance at Bong, she didn’t have enough courage to look at other animals since she couldn’t do anything to save them.
 

I wish I had lots of money to pay as ransoms for all stolen dogs and cats (Bong weighed about 8kg, it costed us 400.000 VND, which was 50,000VND/kg). Or, I desperately wish for a miracle that would remove all premises, slaughterhouses, and dog/cat meat restaurants. Many young people like us are against the idea of consuming dog/cat meat and they do their best to help. Some would raise their voices for justice; those with enough money would pay as ransoms to rescue captured animals. Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter how hard we try, it won’t reach the dog/cat meat consumers at all.
 

We hope for one day, when enough petition signatures are gathered and our voices are heard loud and clear, the government will issue protection laws to ban all dog/cat meat trades and stop slaughtering activities. No demand means no supply - perhaps that is the only way to put an end to this pain once and forever.

While we wait for that bright future to come, there is still one thing you should keep in mind, that is to pay extra attention to your pets and protect them from any potential harms. Promise me, ok?

Source: “An unwanted experience from eyewitnesses…”
 

Hòa Trương