Journey to Compassion: The road to ending Vietnam’s dog and cat meat trade

In 2024, FOUR PAWS embarked on a journey across Vietnam to demand an end to the brutal dog and cat meat trade. Our three-city LED billboard roadshow raised public awareness in Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, and Hanoi, urging citizens to join our national e-action calling on the Prime Minister to put a stop to the cruelty once and for all. We captured powerful public reactions through on-the-ground interviews and wrapped up the campaign with a major stakeholder event in Hanoi, presenting over 2.2 million petition signatures - including 250,000 from Vietnamese citizens - calling for a nationwide ban on the trade.

Cats for the cat meat industry

“What we have seen over the past six months has been yet another incredible response from the Vietnamese people. This is yet another wave of calls for the immediate ban on the horrifying slaughter and sale of dogs and cats for their meat.

The trade has consequences not just for animals – but for people too, through its links to rabies. This abhorrent trade holds no place in a modern and multicultural society, such as Vietnam and the government cannot ignore the voices of the majority of its people. We are seeing in various localities, such as Hoi An in Vietnam, Siem Reap in Cambodia and numerous regencies in Indonesia, that the trade is being banned.

Not only street dogs but also dogs stolen from owners are used for the meat industry in Vietnam

Change is coming and it is coming fast, and we urge the authorities to act immediately to protect humans and animals alike by ending the cruelty of an outdated trade.”

Dr Karanvir Kukreja, FOUR PAWS Head of Campaigns Southeast Asia (Companion Animals)

https://www.four-paws.org/