Every year in Vietnam, an estimated five million dogs and one million cats are captured, stolen, trafficked and brutally slaughtered for their meat. This trade is not only marked by extreme animal cruelty but also involves significant criminal activity. To capture dogs, traders often resort to using poisoned bait tasers, and iron pincers, while cats are trapped using spring-loaded snares. Pets are frequently stolen from homes, and animals are trafficked across borders from neighboring countries such as Laos, Cambodia and China.
During transport, the animals are crammed into small cages and loaded onto trucks for grueling journeys that can last several days. Throughout this ordeal, they are deprived of food, water and rest, leading to some dying from suffocation, dehydration and heatstroke before reaching their final destination—a restaurant, market or slaughterhouse where they are killed and sold on as dog or cat meat.
Threat of rabies
The dog meat trade is not only inhumane but also poses significant public health risks, especially concerning the spread of rabies. Vietnam continues to see approximately 70 human deaths each year from rabies, with most cases linked to dog bites. The trade in dogs of unknown disease or vaccination status undermines anti-rabies efforts and endangers everyone involved.
Growing local opposition to the trade
Viet Nam is somewhat unique in Asia regarding the relatively widespread consumption of dog and cat meat. Unlike most countries on the continent, where such practices are limited to a small minority, a recent Nielsen poll from September 2023 commissioned by HSI revealed that nearly 40% of the Vietnamese population consumes dog meat, while 21% eat cat meat. Dog meat is particularly popular among men in northern Viet Nam, while cat meat dishes are especially common in Hanoi and the northern province of Thai Binh.
Despite this, there is growing local opposition to these trades, especially among young people and pet owners. Nationally, 64% of people support a ban on dog meat consumption, and 68% support banning the dog meat trade. Similarly, 71% of the population favors a ban on both the consumption and trade of cat meat. The primary reasons for this opposition are a strong aversion to the cruelty involved and the belief that dogs and cats are companion animals, not food. This sentiment is likely driven by the increasing number of pet owners in Viet Nam; 87% of poll respondents reported having directly or indirectly experienced the theft of a pet for the trade.
Our work in Viet Nam
HSI is dedicated to tackling the dog and cat meat trade in Viet Nam by advocating for stronger laws and regulations that prohibit these practices on the grounds of animal welfare, public health and safety and stopping illegal cross border movement of animals.
We aim to raise awareness among both the government and the public about the inherent cruelty, the illegal nature of the trade, the emotional toll on pet owners and the significant public health risks linked to rabies. By amplifying the voices of Viet Nam’s growing community of pet owners and animal lovers, we seek to influence policymakers in favor of reform while also working to reduce demand for dog and cat meat. Our goal is to secure a nationwide ban on the slaughter and consumption of dogs and cats in Viet Nam.
As part of our program in Viet Nam we are collaborating with the authorities in two target provinces, Thai Nguyen and Dong Nai, to launch initiatives aimed at reducing the dog and cat meat trade and dog and cat meat consumption in each province. This involves enforcing existing laws, such as health and safety regulations, environmental regulations and animal welfare laws to restrict the trade and training local law enforcement agencies to combat it effectively. Additionally, we deliver community initiatives in these provinces that raise awareness of the risks of the dog and cat meat trade, encourage responsible pet ownership, support pet sterilization and increase canine rabies vaccination coverage.
Additionally, after years of success with our Models for Change program in South Korea, we launched this initiative in Viet Nam in 2022 closing dog and cat meat farms. While most animals for the trade are either stray animals caught from the streets or stolen pets, some dogs and cats are farmed for the meat trade. These farms are not farms in the traditional sense but are rather facilities where young dogs and cats, often unwanted litters, are sold by their owners into the trade, where they are fattened on farms and then slaughtered. We are working directly with farmers who want to leave this cruel trade behind and transition to alternative humane livelihoods. Our Models for Change program not only enables workers to leave the trade but also allows for the rescue of dogs and cats who are voluntarily handed over to HSI as part of the closure, ending their suffering and the suffering of dogs and cats who would have been slaughtered in the future. The dogs and cats we rescue from the meat trade receive veterinary care and rehabilitation at our partner shelter facilities. Once restored to full health, these animals are available for local adoption, enabling them to find safe and loving homes.
Sofitel Saigon Plaza, part of an international hotel chain, goes 100% cage-free
Humane Society International / Global
volody10/iStockphoto
Update: As of May 2021, Sofitel Saigon Plaza has published that it no longer buys eggs from caged hens.
HO CHI MINH CITY, Viet Nam—Humane Society International, a global animal welfare organization, congratulates Sofitel Saigon Plaza—one of Accor’s international hotel brands—for their efforts to reach a 100% cage-free egg supply chain.
The milestone comes after Accor committed to completely eliminating eggs that come from caged hens from its supply chain in some markets by 2020, and in remaining markets by 2024.
HSI began working with Accor to establish this timeline in 2016 and began discussions with Sofitel Saigon Plaza during the COVID-19 pandemic when all of Ho Chi Minh City was in lockdown. Despite the challenges of business shutdowns, HSI and Sofitel Saigon Plaza developed an action plan for implementing the cage-free egg commitment. The hotel started working with a Humane Farm Animal Care certified supplier in Ho Chi Minh City, followed by a site-visit to a cage-free farm and processing plant, which provided hotel representatives with a firsthand look at how seamless a change to higher welfare for egg laying hens could be.
During the farm visit, Mario Mendis, Sofitel Saigon Plaza general manager, was able to see how these social and intelligent animals behave when given room to walk and spread their wings in cage-free environment.
Mendis said: “It was eye-opening to see the hens have more freedom to move. They are able to walk around and reach comfortable nests for egg laying. This is something that our group cares deeply about, and that Accor’s Planet 21 initiative on healthy and sustainable food, and animal welfare, is designed to achieve”.
In contrast, cage systems confine hens in tiny spaces, where each individual lives her life in a space equal to an A4-sized sheet of paper. Hens in these systems cannot move freely or fully spread their wings.
Hang Le, Southeast Asia manager for Humane Society International’s farm animal welfare and protection program, said: “Sofitel Saigon Plaza’s leadership sets an important precedent for other companies in Viet Nam and Asia, many of whom have made public commitments to go cage-free but have yet to make significant progress. Ensuring better treatment of the animals involved is a shared responsibility of consumers, corporations and producers alike, and we encourage more companies to follow this example”.
“Confining hens to cages is cruel, and that is why we made a plan to change our purchasing to suppliers that have implemented animal welfare measures. To meet the challenge of a slight increase in cost, we are supporting producers through long-term contracts as well as removing unnecessary packaging. Critical to this is ensuring that our guests know why we have made the change: because we care about animals. We believe our guests and society will recognize our efforts because it is the right thing to do. We encourage other hotels and food industry entities to follow our path”, Mendis added.
HSI’s work to improve the welfare of animals in agriculture is both science based and collaborative. The organization works with companies, farmers, processors, scientists and certifiers to support a transition to cage-free housing systems, and offers a wide range of support to companies like Sofitel Saigon Plaza, including farm visits, consumer education, and corporate roundtables and workshops.
As one of these efforts, HSI and the National Agriculture Extension Center of Viet Nam are hosting an event at the Sofitel Saigon Plaza to recognize companies and producers who are implementing higher animal welfare on Nov. 30, 2022. This is the first event of its kind in the country where media are welcome to join. To register, please reach out to An Tran, HSI farm animal welfare manager for Viet Nam, at antc@hsi.org.
ENDS
Reference in this article to any specific commercial product or service, or the use of any brand, trade, firm or corporation name is for the information of the public only, and does not constitute or imply endorsement by HSI in Viet Nam or any of its affiliates of the product or service, or its producer or provider, and should not be construed or relied upon, under any circumstances, by implication or otherwise, as investment advice. Links and access by hypertext to other websites is provided as a convenience only and does not indicate or imply any endorsement with respect to any of the content on such website nor any of the views expressed thereon.
Humane Society International / Global
HSI
HO CHI MINH CITY, Viet Nam—Yesterday, Humane Society International and the National Agriculture Extension Center of Vietnam hosted “Animal welfare in food supply chains: from commitment to implementation.” The corporate roundtable highlighted the need for improving farm animal welfare policy and practices and how the collaboration between stakeholders throughout the supply chain can help with implementation of corporate animal welfare policy. This in-person event follows a series of virtual webinars hosted over the past two years.
Nearly 60 attendees, including experts from the hospitality sector, food processors and retailers, egg and pork producers, government officials and academics, gathered in Ho Chi Minh City. Participants discussed the importance of obtaining animal welfare expertise to help educate and align acrosss teams, the value of direct engagement with suppliers and how government can support the transition from cages and crates to more humane, higher-welfare housing systems and other topics.
Speakers from multinational corporations including Marriott Hotels and Mondelez International shared their animal welfare commitments and why the commitments are so crucial to their companies, as well as their plan for implementing those commitments.
The Vietnamese producer V.Food showcased their cage-free egg facilities, which provide hens space to move, dustbathe, nest and forage. V.Food began their journey last year in response to the growing demand for cage-free eggs in Vietnam. Representatives of Nguyen Khoi Farm, a pork producer in the midst of transitioning to group-housing, spoke about their decision to stop using gestation crates and communicating that to consumers through their label.
Dr. Ha Thuy Hanh, deputy director of the National Agriculture Extension Center, said in the opening speech: “Farm animal welfare is one of the core programs that the Vietnam government has prioritized, as it is growing around the globe. As a representative from Vietnam government, I’m very delighted to see the level of commitment by the food industry to higher animal welfare, and the pioneering producers who are supporting them to address the welfare of farm animals. NAEC is committed to collaborate further with HSI to provide support to producers and other stakeholders.”
Hang Le, Southeast Asia manager for HSI’s farm animal welfare program, stated, “We are pleased with the positive feedback we received from this event and look forward to continuing to foster open dialogue and collaboration among stakeholders in the country to improve the welfare of animals on farms.”
HSI animal science and policy experts covered animal welfare science and its importance, as well as the tools and assistance they can provide to support companies and producers as they transition. Dr. Saravanakumar Pillai, HSI’s senior advisor on animal welfare briefed attendees on the cage-free progress in Malaysia and how it could be applied to Viet Nam.
Around the world, every year, more than 6 billion hens and an estimated 75 million sows are confined in cages and crates so small that they are unable to engage in important natural behavior, including walking or stretching their limbs. These animals suffer tremendously as a result of spending nearly their entire lives in such physically and behaviorally restricted conditions.
Animal welfare is a corporate social responsibility issue for companies in Viet Nam resulting in a major shift in the country’s food industry towards more ethical sourcing of animal products. Dozens of food industry leaders in Viet Nam, including Mondelez International, Marriott International, Unilever, Fusion, 4P’s and Accor, have committed to sourcing exclusively cage-free eggs in their supply chains.
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Reference in this article to any specific commercial product or service, or the use of any brand, trade, firm or corporation name is for the information of the public only, and does not constitute or imply endorsement by HSI or any of its affiliates of the product or service, or its producer or provider, and should not be construed or relied upon, under any circumstances, by implication or otherwise, as investment advice.
ENDS
Media contacts:
Hang Le, manager in corporate and supplier engagement for the farm department at HSI: hanglt@hsi.org;
HO CHI MINH CITY—One of the largest egg suppliers and processing companies in South Viet Nam, Vinh Thanh Dat (V.Food), has joined the global cage-free movement by launching their first certified cage-free egg brand in the country. The project is freeing thousands of hens from cages in the first year and will expand in the years to come, with the assistance of Humane Society International (HSI), a global organization working to protect all animals.
As an industry pioneer, V.Food has observed the cage-free movement increasing around the globe. The company management team has a vision to differentiate from the most common industrial way of producing eggs in Viet Nam, where nearly 77 million hens are confined in small, crowded, wire cages every year.
With this project, and as of today, V.Food has become the first producer and processing company to earn the Certified Humane label in Viet Nam, meeting dozens of requirements for the health, nutrition and management of cage-free hens under the Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC) standards. Consumers will be able to find V.Food’s Cage-free Eggs brand in the largest supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City soon. These eggs are packaged in paper boxes, differentiating them from other single-use plastic egg boxes already in the market, a further sign of V.Food commitment to corporate social responsibility, and to the community and environment.
The two single-floor, cage-free barns in Dong Nai province, about 100km north of Ho Chi Minh City, house 6,000 hens total, and can bring around 1,5 million cage-free eggs to the market annually. In these barns, hens are free to express their natural behavior, i.e., dust-bathing in rice husk bedding and resting on elevated perches.
“We hope this new brand of certified cage-free eggs will be supported by consumers even though the pricing is higher at the beginning compared to eggs from caged hens that are already in the market. With consumers’ support, the number of hens freed from cages will increase as Viet Nam’s egg production catches up with the regional cage-free trend.” said Mr. Truong Chi Thien, V.Food founder and general director.
Hang Le, farm animal welfare manager, HSI in Viet Nam states: “We are delighted that producers and processing companies are beginning to address the welfare of hens by moving toward cage-free egg production in Vietnam. HSI applauds V.Food’s movement. We are committed to providing support and to ensuring that these and other pioneers have all of the tools and resources they need to make the cage-free future for laying hens a reality. Consumers play a key role in the effort to improve the lives of farm animals, and HSI urges those consumers who purchase eggs, to choose cage-free. This small change means a world of difference to each of those hens.”
HSI’s approach is science based and collaborative. The Farm Animal Welfare department works with companies and producers to support a transition from intensive cage confinement to cage-free housing systems instead. HSI offers a wide range of technical support to producers and egg processing companies such as V.Food, including peer-to-peer learning, farm visits, study tours and annual technical workshops.
V.Food joins other egg production companies in Southeast Asia as part of the cage-free movement, including Charoen Pokphand Foods, Betagro of Thailand, San Miguel Corporation and Bounty Fresh of the Philippines. This transition will meet the growing demand for cage-free eggs from the global food and hospitality industry. A growing number of food and hospitality companies has adopted cage-free egg procurement policies as part of their corporate social responsibility goals.
Reference in this release to any specific commercial product or service, or the use of any brand, trade, firm or corporation name is for the information of the public, and does not constitute or imply endorsement by Humane Society International or its affiliates of the product or service, or its producer or provider.
ENDS
Media contacts:
Humane Society International: Phuong Tham: phuongth@hsi.org
V.Food: Truong Chi Cuong: cuongtc@vinhthanhdat.com.vn
Humane Society International / HSI in Viet Nam
Nam HuongFirst Nam Huong’s cage-free barn.
HO CHI MINH CITY—Viet Nam is joining other Southeast Asian countries in the movement to promote cage-free eggs with the opening of the country’s first cage-free barn. Most of the more than 8 billion eggs that are produced in Viet Nam annually are laid by hens kept in wire, battery cages, which are so small the hens cannot even stretch their wings.
As Nam Huong Director Le Van Hoa sees it, the future is cage-free. Nam Huong is an established mid-scale egg producer in Tien Giang, one of the Mekong Delta provinces, about 150 km west of Ho Chi Minh City. Its current capacity is 700,000 laying hens producing about 200 million battery cage eggs per year. Following visits to cage-free operations in the United Kingdom, technical workshops, insights from 14 years of battery cage production, and the mounting shift in consumer demand, Hoa is establishing one of the first commercial cage-free facilities.
Hoa shared that the transition to a cage-free system could be a good path for his business: “Vietnam is one of the fast-growing economic countries in the region. I have seen the cage-free egg movement growing in our neighboring countries, such as Thailand and Malaysia. Consumers’ concern regarding animal welfare is increasing and I am expecting Nam Huong would be one of the first producers in Vietnam to make the switch to cage-free housing.”
In 2019, Viet Nam had 77.07 million hens who laid 8.2 billion eggs, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. There are thousands of egg producers in the country, with varying sizes of production.
The transition to cage-free requires investment and specialized management, and with technical support from Humane Society International, Nam Huong is converting two original battery cage houses to cage-free. This initial project will help to free 3,000 laying-hens in the first year.
HSI applauds Nam Huong for this transition to higher animal welfare practices. Unlike battery cages, cage-free housing allows the hens to move freely and to express their natural behavior, such as dustbathing, nesting, perching and scratching in loose litter. Hang Le, Farm Animal Welfare Manager, HSI in Viet Nam stated “With the movement from producers, like Nam Huong, HSI urges individual consumers and the food industry to consider farm animal welfare when buying or sourcing eggs. By supporting cage-free producers, consumers can drive Viet Nam’s egg production industry toward a more humane way of farming”.
HSI has worked to protect animals, including farm animals, in Viet Nam since 2013, and collaborated with the Department of Livestock Production to endorse humane practices for farm animals in the Animal Husbandry Law that came into force in 2020. The new law is an important vehicle to improve the lives of farm animals in Viet Nam. HSI applauds the Viet Nam government for its forward-thinking approach, keeping animal welfare at the forefront to ensure not only that the animals are well cared for but that farming systems keep pace with international markets.
Mr. Nguyen Duc Trong, Deputy Director at the Department of Livestock Production in the Viet Nam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said, “The cage-free egg production system is a science-based, and higher animal welfare alternative. Nam Huong is one of the first egg producers in Viet Nam to implement humane treatment in livestock production, the Article 69 of Viet Nam Animal Husbandry Law. We welcome pioneers like Nam Huong on this transition. We urge businesses and consumers, please join to support the activities of agribusiness companies and individual producers who are leaders to implement the Law in order to integrate into the growing trend around the globe.”
HSI is helping buyers and producers to transition to cage-free egg production in many ways such as hosting events for a range of stakeholders, from technical workshops for producers to companies that are changing their supply chain throughout Southeast Asia. A recent HSI webinar focused on the hospitality industry, aiming to support the cage-free transition efforts in Asia by illuminating opportunities and successful strategies to transition, including lessons learned.
Nam Huong has committed to working with HSI on improving the living conditions of laying hens in Viet Nam. Both parties will work together in the upcoming years to plan and convert additional battery cages to cage-free for tens of thousands of hens. This humane journey could not be done by any party alone—awareness, participation and support from the government, society and consumers will be crucial.
ENDS
Media Contacts:
Phuong Tham, Humane Society International in Viet Nam: phuongth@hsi.org
Le Van Hoa, Nam Huong: lehoa83@yahoo.com
Humane Society International / Viet Nam
Hang Le/HSI
Update: As of April 2022, Fusion Hotel Group Viet Nam|Alba Wellness Valley by Fusion has published that it no longer buys eggs from caged hens.
HO CHI MINH CITY—Fusion Hotel Group is partnering with Humane Society International, a global animal protection organization, to improve animal welfare in its supply chain. To do this, Fusion has committed to sourcing 100% cage-free eggs, both in shell and liquid forms, in its existing and future properties in Vietnam, and elsewhere.
Fusion, which launched its brand of wellness-focused hotels and resorts in 2008, is the only fully vertically integrated hospitality company in Southeast Asia. All of Fusion’s locations in Vietnam, in Da Nang, Cam Ranh, Ho Chi Minh City, Hue, Phu Quoc, Quy Nhon and Vung Tau, will start implementing the use of cage-free eggs by 2021 and to reach 100% by 2025.
With this commitment, Fusion Hotel Group becomes the first Vietnam-based hotel and resort company to join the international cage-free egg movement. Phuong Tham, HSI Vietnam country director, said: “We are delighted with Fusion’s commitment to a cage-free egg policy. We appreciate its desire to lead the way among hospitality companies to a higher standard of corporate-social responsibility for animal welfare in the country.”
HSI actively supports companies throughout South East Asia with the implementation of their animal welfare policies. This includes conducting workshops for a range of stakeholders. Fusion’s commitment reflects what previous workshop participants have stressed: The future is cage-free.
Samir Wildemann, Fusion’s vice president of operations, said: “We are proud of our commitment to corporate social responsibility and responsible consumption, which includes animal welfare in our supply chain. There is a growing demand for higher welfare and quality products, and cage-free eggs are a key example of humane and sustainable ingredients.”
Battery cage systems are infamous worldwide for confining hens in tiny spaces, no bigger than an A4-sized sheet of paper; hens in these systems cannot move freely or fully spread their wings. In Vietnam, the majority of egg-laying hens live in battery cages.
But there is progress being made around the world for egg-laying hens, as more corporations choose to emphasize animal welfare in their supply chains, which is good news for billions of these birds.
Update: As of 2021, HealthyFarm has published that it no longer buys eggs from caged hens.
DANANG—HealthyFarm, a sustainable retailer in Vietnam, officially announced a policy to highlight animal welfare in its supply chain, committing to sell only cage-free eggs. The social enterprise worked with Humane Society International, a leading global animal protection organization, on the adoption of this policy. By working and supporting its farmer networks, HealthyFarm’s new policy will help to improve the lives of up to 10,000 hens this year. HeathyFarm will focus on growth and expansion in the years to come.
Established in 2016 in Danang, HealthyFarm is a social enterprise focusing on food sustainability including natural farming practices and upholding animal welfare. The enterprise seeks to protect public health while maintaining low environmental impact. HealthyFarm’s mission is to bring clean, safe and natural food to consumers while simultaneously supporting the local farmers and local communities. After nearly five years of operation, HealthyFarm has distributed more than half a million free-range eggs to both wholesale and retail channels. Starting from 2020, the social enterprise has been partnering with HSI and World Animal Protection to develop networks of small-scale producers from rural communities to fulfill its commitment to serve 100% cage-free eggs in its stores and to its business customers. This is one of HealthyFarm’s most dedicated projects as it matches the organization’s mission. Additionally, HealthyFarm is planning several consumer engagement events to raise awareness about cage-free eggs and animal welfare across Vietnam.
Dr. Kasia Weina, founding partner and director of HealthyFarm, stated: “We are excited to take the next steps towards sustainable, responsible consumption that highlights ethical treatment of animals throughout our supply chain. We aim to pioneer this movement and continue to raise awareness and facilitate change surrounding this issue.”
Hang Le, corporate outreach manager for HSI/Vietnam, stated: “We applaud HealthyFarm for joining hundreds of food companies around the globe in pledging to source only cage-free eggs, and we invite other companies to do the same. Through commitments like these, consumers and the food industry in the country are sending a clear message: Immobilizing egg-laying hens in cages is unacceptable, and the days of not questioning how animals are treated in the food industry are long gone. The future of egg production is cage-free, and we look forward to continuing to work with HealthyFarm on the implementation of this policy.”
In Vietnam, the vast majority of egg-laying hens are confined in wire battery cages, where each hen has less space than an A4-sized sheet of paper to spend her entire life. Battery cages are inherently cruel—hens are unable to move freely or express important natural behaviour, including nesting, perching and dustbathing. Cage-free systems generally offer hens higher levels of animal welfare than battery cage systems.
HealthyFarm joins other multinational companies that have made similar global cage-free egg commitments that apply to Vietnam and the rest of Asia, including 4P’s Corporation, AccorHotels, Hilton Hotels and Resorts, Nestle, Sodexo and Mondelez International, among others.
Pan NatureTurtles for sale in a wildlife market in Vietnam, October 2019
HANOI—Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has signed a new directive that bans wildlife imports and closes illegal wildlife markets, a move applauded by Humane Society International/Vietnam. This directive provides clear instructions to relevant enforcement agencies and authorities to take immediate actions to better control wildlife trade as part of the global response to the threat of zoonotic diseases such as COVID-19 posed by wildlife consumption and trade.
The move follows a letter and recommendations sent to the Prime Minister’s office in February 2020 by 14 wildlife protection organisations, including Pan Nature, Change, Save Vietnam Wildlife, ENV, WCS, WWF Vietnam and Humane Society International/Vietnam, urging the government to shut down wild animal markets and other vendors selling wildlife for human consumption. Additionally, in April, HSI/Vietnam sent an urgent plea and science-based white paper to the Prime Minister’s office and other relevant ministries calling for immediate action to ban wildlife trade, transport and consumption — particularly mammal and bird species, which are known to contract coronaviruses — in order to address the threat they pose to public health in addition to animal welfare and species conservation.
Ms. Phuong Tham, HSI/Vietnam director, said: “Vietnam’s directive clearly shows the government’s commitment to eradicating illegal wildlife trade and consumption. The directive bans wildlife imports with certain exemptions and urges the closure of illegal wildlife markets. It also discourages all citizens from illegally hunting, catching, buying, selling, transporting, slaughtering, consuming, storing and advertising wildlife. These measures combined with strict management of wildlife farming are extremely welcome news in the global efforts to end wildlife exploitation and the grave risks for conservation, animal welfare and human health it poses.
“The existence of wildlife marketsin many locations has been a big problem in Vietnam for a long time, with many Vietnamese people consuming endangered species such as cobra, turtle and pangolin, as well as all manner of monkeys, birds and other unprotected species. Without stronger actions, Vietnam risks eating many of these species into extinction because they can so easily be purchased in markets, from street vendors and even just outside of our national parks. Vietnam’s rapacious appetite for wildlife is endangering not just these species’ survival, but as we have seen with the coronavirus outbreak, it is endangering people’s lives too, so this ban can’t come soon enough.”
Although the exact origins of the current coronavirus are still unknown, it likely originated in a market in Wuhan, China, that was selling and slaughtering live wild animals on site. Multiple infectious disease outbreaks have been tied to the wildlife trade, including SARS, which is believed to have been passed to humans by civets sold in a Chinese wildlife market for meat in 2003. An estimated 75% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic (spread from non-human animals to humans).
Teresa Telecky, vice president of wildlife at Humane Society International, said, “The current COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated just how deadly the wildlife trade can be, not just for the wild animals involved, but also for people throughout the world. COVID-19 is a tipping point that governments like that of Vietnam are wise not to ignore. Wildlife markets worldwide are a petri dish for the next global pandemic, so this directive opens a way for Vietnam to end illegal wildlife trade and also help global efforts to prevent the next global pandemic from happening. Furthermore, the temporary ban on wildlife imports will save many endangered and threatened species from exploitation and consumption. Based on this directive, we look forward upcoming actions that Vietnam will to take to prevent wild tigers from being captured and laundered into captive facilities and also prevent the trafficking of tigers and their products and derivatives from captive facilities in the country.”
Last month, the Vietnamese National Assembly ratified a free trade agreement with the European Union that includes provisions to support the Vietnamese government’s efforts to curb the wildlife trade.
BRUSSELS/HANOI—Today’s ratification of the free trade agreement with the European Union by the Vietnamese National Assembly heralds a new era of intergovernmental cooperation on animal welfare and wildlife protection between the two. The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union approved the agreement earlier this year. Humane Society International believes that, if supported with resources, the agreement has significant potential to protect wildlife and increase cooperation on animal welfare.
Dr Joanna Swabe, senior director of public affairs for HSI/Europe, said:
“Humane Society International believes that both Parties should seize the opportunity presented by this historic trade deal to increase their cooperation on animal protection. Although there were very limited animal welfare provisions, it does offer a chance for the EU to provide technical assistance and capacity building to advance farm animal welfare in Vietnam. The 2019 mass culling of pigs to eradicate African swine fever there illustrates just how badly such veterinary assistance is needed. The culling process was extremely inhumane due to lack of the right equipment and skills needed for electrical stunning and killing. Through increased cooperation with the EU, a long-term programme of training, capacity building and assistance could be instituted to teach humane animal-handling techniques and proper equipment use to safeguard the welfare and dignity of animals at the time of killing.”
Phuong Tham, director of HSI/Vietnam, added:
“In addition to sharing much needed knowledge and technical assistance on farm animal welfare, the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement includes provisions that can help support our government’s efforts to curb the trade in wildlife products. Sadly, Vietnam continues to serve as a source, consumer and transit country for the illegal wildlife trade. HSI/Vietnam hopes that, through the proper implementation of this trade deal and development cooperation, we can successfully reduce the demand for wildlife products and increase our government’s enforcement capacity with the training and tools needed to tackle the scourge of wildlife trafficking. The illegal wildlife trade not only poses a threat to biological diversity and natural habitats, but, as the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated, it can also pose a serious threat to public health. It was technically already illegal to sell and consume wild-caught species in Vietnam, but the existing rules were poorly enforced and wet markets selling wildlife have proliferated.”
Once the trade agreement enters into force, both HSI/Europe and HSI/Vietnam intend to apply to join the respective Domestic Advisory Groups that will be established to allow civil society representatives to monitor the implementation of this free trade agreement.
Facts
The EU and Vietnam signed a trade agreement and an investment protection agreement on 30th June 2019. The Council of the European Union approved the agreement on 30th March 2020 after the European Parliament gave its consent on 12th February 2020.
The Cooperation and Capacity Building Chapter of EU-Vietnam FTA states that the “Parties agree to cooperate on animal welfare as necessary, including technical assistance and capacity building for the development of animal welfare standards.”
As of mid-December 2019, 6 million pigs in Vietnam have been culled in an attempt to eradicate African swine fever. The inhumane culling process highlighted the need for better training and equipment.
The Trade and Sustainable Development Chapter of the EU-Vietnam trade agreement includes commitments to the proper implementation and enforcement of multilateral environmental agreements, as well as provisions aiming to protect biodiversity and reduce illegal wildlife trade through information exchange on strategies, policy initiatives, programmes, action plans and consumer awareness campaigns. It also includes a commitment to enhance cooperation to increase species protection through the proposal of new CITES listings. Notably, in 2019, the EU and Vietnam jointly submitted proposals and succeeded in listing various reptile and amphibian species on CITES Appendix II.
Rhino horn is valued in countries like China and Vietnam for purported medicinal benefits, although there is no scientific evidence to back these claims. Horn can be sold for high prices on the black market, but there are indications that the price has fallen recently in Vietnam, thanks in part to a campaign to reduce rhino horn demand launched in 2013 by HSI and the Vietnamese government. The multi-faceted campaign has reached an estimated 37 million people—approximately one-third of the national population.
In 2016, HSI organized the first-ever Pangolin Range States Meeting, co-hosted by the governments of Vietnam and the United States, and attended by over 30 pangolin range states in Vietnam.
With HSI’s support, Vietnam held an event in November 2016 at which, for the first time in the country’s history, over two tons of elephant ivory, 70 kg of rhino horn, and other seized wildlife specimens were destroyed to send a message to the international community that the living animals are valued, rather than the products derived from them.
HSI partnered with the Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Education and Training to implement a ground-breaking project under which millions of schoolchildren in Vietnam received educational lessons on threatened wildlife as part of an effort to tackle illegal trade in rhinos, elephants, pangolins, tigers and more.
40 million dogs and cats killed annually despite rabies risk
Humane Society International / Global
Hoang Xuan ThuyLive dogs being sold by a dog trader in Vietnam May 2020
WASHINGTON—Animal protection groups from around the world have joined forces to urge governments across Asia to act urgently to permanently shut down unsanitary and brutal dog and cat meat markets and trades, amid growing global concern about zoonotic diseases and public health danger zones. Member organisations from the Asia for Animals coalition, including Humane Society International, FOUR PAWS International and Change for Animals Foundation, say the dog and cat meat trades pose a serious danger from the deadly rabies virus and other notifiable diseases, such as cholera, with dogs and cats often traded and slaughtered in the very same wildlife markets as wild animals who are the focus of COVID-19 concern.
Download video & photos (taken April, May 2020) of dogs on sale at markets in China, Vietnam and Indonesia.
An estimated 30 million dogs and 10 million cats are killed every year for the meat trade, mainly in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, India, and Laos. Most of this trade is in dogs and cats stolen from homes and back yards, as well as owned and roaming dogs snatched from the streets, with well-established links to the spread of rabies, cholera and trichinosis.
Kelly O’Meara, vice president of companion animals at Humane Society International, said: “Across the globe, nations are united in a collective response to the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, including calls to close wildlife markets that can act as a petri dish for zoonotic diseases. Within that context, it is only responsible for governments across Asia to also tackle the dog and cat meat trades that, while not connected to COVID-19, undoubtedly pose their own significant human health risks, such as the spread of trichinosis, cholera and rabies that kill tens of thousands of people every year. With hundreds of dogs at a time crammed onto trucks and driven across provincial and even international borders to filthy slaughterhouses and markets where these highly stressed animals are then displayed and slaughtered alongside myriad wild and domestic species, it’s easy to see how this trade is not only utterly brutal, but also the perfect breeding ground for the next serious public health disaster. New pathogens could jump to humans in a number of ways – a dog trader wounded during the day’s slaughter, a local consumer eating cross-contaminated dog meat bought at a nearly stall, or a tourist breathing in microscopic blood droplets as they sight-see in the market. This is no time for complacency or turning a blind eye; the dog and cat meat trades need to be shut down with urgency.”
The rabies virus has been found in brain specimens of dogs traded for human consumption in China, Vietnam and Indonesia. Not only is there a risk in handling the dogs, and in the extremely unsanitary slaughter and butchery process, but there is also some reason for concern surrounding consumption itself, likely through contamination due to unhygienic conditions. The cholera bacterium has also been found in samples of dog meat, equipment and waste-water released from slaughterhouses in Hanoi, Vietnam. There have also been historical reports in Vietnam and the Philippines of patients with signs of rabies infection who had been involved in preparing and eating dogs and cats who may have been infected.
In a statement to the Dog Meat Free Indonesia coalition, the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed, “There are reports that dog-meat markets have a higher rate of rabies than the general dog population, as people often sell dogs to the markets when they act sick; some of these sick dogs have rabies.… Furthermore, there are at least three published reports of humans acquiring rabies from activities associated with the dog meat market, emphasizing that the risk is very real.”
In many countries, the trade in dogs and cats for meat is largely fueled by criminal activity. Lola Webber, from the Change for Animals Foundation, says: “The dog and cat meat trades in Indonesia rely on criminal activity and there is increasing frustration among pet owners at the lack of action by law enforcement to deter or punish armed thieves who terrorise neighbourhoods and steal people’s dogs and cats. Once stolen, the animals are sold to slaughterhouses, markets and restaurants, kept in squalid conditions often alongside many other species of animals from various sources. The slaughter of dogs and cats is brutal, they are bludgeoned in the streets and then blowtorched, often whilst still alive. The streets are covered in pools of blood and the remains of other slaughtered animals. The cruelty alone is horrifying, but the risk of disease transmission is huge for anyone trading, slaughtering, butchering or even visiting these live animal markets. The Indonesian Government pledged it would ban the trade in August 2018, but we’ve seen very little commitment for action from provincial or central government. If COVID-19 isn’t a wake-up call, I don’t know what will be. If you told me tomorrow that there was a disease outbreak originating in one of the markets in North Sulawesi, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised, and with the number of tourists visiting these places, the result could be terrifying.”
In Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, China and parts of India, it is not unusual to see dogs and cats sold and slaughtered alongside other species including wildlife such as bats, snakes and rats, as well as other animals such as chickens and ducks. With growing global concern regarding the emergence of novel and deadly viruses from markets where multiple species are sold, the campaign groups are urging governments to take action. These markets provide an ideal environment for viral recombination and transmission between species, with potentially deadly results.
Cambodia’s government is being urged to publicly dispel myths that dog meat has medicinal benefits, including the belief it can ward off viruses including the one that causes COVID-19. Veterinarian Katherine Polak with FOUR PAWS in Southeast Asia, says: “The proliferation of completely unfounded, unscientific misinformation about dog meat is really worrying, with physicians even recommending dog meat to patients to treat various ailments. While we completely appreciate that cultures and habits are not easily changed, the government has a responsibility to safeguard the health of the nation as well as comply with global animal welfare standards. In Cambodia, dogs are being bludgeoned and drowned in fetid drowning pits, with total disregard for rabies which is endemic across Asia, while the government continues to do very little to protect people or animals.”
Asia overview
Vietnam: An estimated 5 million dogs and 1 million cats are killed every year despite laws and regulations being in place to make it illegal. Implementation is extremely poor, with traders having a total disregard for law enforcement. In 2018, Hanoi government officials called for an end to the dog meat industry, citing health and public image concerns. A pledge to phase out the slaughtering and trading of dogs for meat by 2021 is yet to be actioned, but a nationwide crackdown is needed to avoid the trade simply shifting elsewhere.
India: The cruel transport and slaughter of dogs violates several provisions of India’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and the consumption of dogs is illegal under the Food Safety and Standard Regulations in India, and yet in the north-eastern states of Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura and others, an estimated ten thousand dogs a year continue to be brutally bludgeoned to death in ‘killing pits’. Dogs are also smuggled from across Assam, West Bengal within India and Bangladesh and Myanmar from outside of India.
Indonesia: An estimated 2 million dogs and significant number of cats are killed a year, with many hotspots trading tens of thousands of dogs every month. In addition to slaughterhouses and dog meat-selling restaurants operating throughout most provinces of Indonesia, in dog meat-eating hotspots such as North Sulawesi, live dogs and cats are sold and slaughtered in live animal markets, where conditions are incredibly unsanitary, and domestic and wildlife animals and meats are sold alongside each other. The Dog Meat Free Indonesia (DMFI) coalition has conducted nationwide investigations documenting the inherent cruelty, illegality and dangers of the dog and cat meat trades.
China: An estimated 10+ million dogs and 4 million cats are killed for the meat trade annually, the vast majority of whom are stolen pets. There is no nationwide animal protection legislation in China, however in recent weeks the Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai have introduced city-wide bans on dog and cat meat consumption, and the national government also publicly stated that dogs are considered companions not livestock. This distinction could inspire other cities in mainland China to follow this lead and introduce bans.
South Korea: Up to 2 million dogs a year are intensively reared on farms, without veterinary treatment or basic welfare such as water provision. Humane Society International works co-operatively with the growing number of dog farmers seeking an exit from the trade, to close dog farms and rescue dogs. Many dogs HSI encounters on these farms are former pets abandoned at the farm gates, or dogs originally bred for the pet trade.
Cambodia: Up to 3 million dogs are killed each year in the Kingdom, with an unknown number exported into Vietnam for consumption. According to a market research study conducted by FOUR PAWS, a total of 53.6% of respondents indicated that they have eaten dog meat at some time in their lives (72.4% of men and 34.8% of women), however the practice remains controversial among Khmer people. Supplying the demand, dogs are routinely snatched from the streets, stolen from homes, or traded for aluminium pots and pans and trafficked across the country to slaughterhouses and restaurants. There are more than 100 dog meat restaurants in the capital city of Phnom Penh alone, most having opened in the last 2-3 years.
Lao PDR: The consumption of dogs in Laos remains relatively undocumented. However, reports of theft and trafficking of dogs for consumption are common. Laos lacks any animal welfare laws, including those that would prohibit killing dogs for consumption.
Download video & photos (taken April, May 2020) of dogs on sale at markets in China, Vietnam and Indonesia.
ENDS
Media contact: Wendy Higgins, Director of International Media: whiggins@hsi.org
