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fast, and we urge the authorities to act immediately to protect humans and animals alike by ending the cruelty of an outdated trade.”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

Donkey hide glue ( Ejiao ) is e key ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine and beauty products found under donkey skin: annually 6 million donkeys are needed to keep up with the demand

https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/

Booming demand, but a limited supply

High demand and low supply has created a donkey skin crisis

Demand for ejiao has contributed to the collapse of the donkey population in China and is associated with the unsustainable, cruel and often illegal global skin trade.

Understanding ejiao, the product driving demand for donkey skins

Ejiao (pronounced uh-jee-ow), also known as ‘colla corii asini’ or ‘donkey-hide glue’, is a key ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine. It is produced from the collagen extracted from donkey skin.

The collagen is mixed with herbs and other ingredients to create bars, pills or liquids for consumable goods or beauty products. 

The ejiao industry has experienced significant growth over the past decade.

Between 2013 and 2016, the annual production of ejiao increased from 3,200 to 5,600 tonnes, a yearly growth of over 20%.

Industry reports show that the production of ejiao increased by 160 per cent between 2016 and 2021.

If current trends continue, this will increase by 200 per cent by 2027.

We estimate that the ejiao industry now requires a minimum of 5.9 million donkey skins to keep up with the latest demand figures.

The ejiao industry now relies on the global trade in donkey skins, feeding into this animal welfare and humanitarian emergency

Donkeys are facing catastrophic cruelty from source to slaughter

Donkeys are highly intelligent, charismatic and sentient animals who form lifelong bonds.

The appalling treatment and the intense suffering they endure at every stage of the donkey skin trade is unethical, unacceptable and often illegal.

Donkeys may be transported or marched long distances to slaughterhouses without food, water or rest. Held for days without shelter or care, the trade in donkey skins is a gruesome and brutal business.

Donkey populations are being decimated

Ongoing high demand from the ejiao industry drives the cruel and unsustainable slaughter of millions of donkeys every year.

We estimate that nearly one in ten of the world’s donkeys are killed for the skin trade every year.

That’s 4.8 million donkeys slaughtered, with 3 million skins shipped from Africa, Asia and Latin America to China for processing into ejiao. The donkey is now one of the world’s most trafficked animals.

Donkey populations in some countries have been decimated. Where donkeys were once plentiful, local sources now describe them as scarce.

Livelihoods are destroyed

When a donkey is stolen or sold for their skin, it is not just an animal that is lost; it can be a family’s future, and the impact hits women and children the hardest.

In many households, women and children look after the donkeys and rely on them most. In these low-income communities, donkeys are often their main or only source of income. Our latest report Stolen Donkeys, Stolen Futures: The impacts of ejiao on Africa’s women and children exposes the immediate and catastrophic impact on women and girls when their donkeys are taken.

Children, in particular girls, are forced to leave school, hindering their educational opportunities, independence and gender equality. Women suffer both physically and emotionally as they struggle to perform the work the donkeys once shouldered.

https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/

On their way to the cruel donkey skin trade

Millions of donkey skins are exported across the world and used to make a traditional Chinese medicine called ejiao. Produced using gelatine from donkey skins, ejiao is successfully marketed as a luxury commodity in China where increasing popularity is driving up production and an increase in donkey slaughter.

Following the rapid decline of China’s own donkey population for ejiao production, agents for the industry are looking elsewhere, targeting vulnerable donkeys and their owners in countries across Africa and around the world.

Communities who depend on donkeys to help provide them with a livelihood wake up to find their donkeys stolen, slaughtered, and skinned during the night. Women in particular are losing the donkeys that they need to survive – to take children to school, to move goods to market, to collect water and help with other labour intensive tasks. Entire families suffer and opportunities are destroyed.

Developed by Friday’s Child, the 90 second advert highlights the challenges faced by donkeys in the UK and around the world. It shows donkeys not only threatened by the barbaric skin trade but also suffering negligence in the UK, exploitation in the global construction industry and ingesting plastic at dump sites in Lamu, Kenya

Marianne Steele, CEO of The Donkey Sanctuary, said: “The truth about this barbaric and unsustainable trade is that donkeys suffer at every step - from being transported long distances and held, often terrified and in overcrowded conditions, before being slaughtered and discarded after their skins have been removed.

“Donkeys are intelligent and sentient animals who deserve respect and protection. We will continue to work tirelessly to stop this slaughter and create a better world for donkeys everywhere.”

Our campaign to Stop the Slaughter and end the donkey skin trade is the single biggest donkey protection initiative we have undertaken in over 50 years of operation.

https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/webcams/shelter-1   Live wedcams

Young monkeys Mini and Milo were victims of a dark, cruel and abusive network in Indonesia; The BBC uncovered this horrific trade and rescued the 2 monkeys

 

The 2 monkeys to the left Mini and Milo

Mini and Milo were victim of a dark, cruel and abusive network in Indonesia. Investigating this sinister world of sick and psychotic people that want to hurt others, was a real nightmare. We had to witness all the abuse Mini and other long tailed macaques went through before action could be taken. Finally, a police raid saved Mini and Milo’s life back in 2022. 

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Thanks to international collaboration between police forces; thanks to organizations investigating this cruelty and all coming together to take action; thanks to the BBC for digging deep in this abusive trade; we were able to provide Mini, Milo and other rescued primates a second chance in life.

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Mini during rehabilitation

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Mini and Milo were rescued in September 2022 and have been in rehabilitation and care at our Long tailed Macaque rehabilitation facility in West Java. Here, the primates were nursed back to health, could leave their trauma behind, make friends, and form a new family with other rescued long tailed macaques.

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M‍ilo   Jakarta Animal Aid Network ( JAAN )

After more then two years in our care, the two were ready to be released with their new family members - a beautiful group of 11 individuals with a strong Alfa male and female. After a final check up, the primates were transported to a pristine, protected forested island where JAAN Indonesia operates with permits from the Ministry of Forestry and Environment. Here, Mini and the other primates entered the pre-release cage, built inside the forest where the primates can adapt to the new surroundings and be provided forest fruits. After a few days, their cage is opened, and our team stays to monitor them after release for about four weeks. 

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