Animal Welfare Thailand Project #15343

Help dogs rescued from the barbaric dog meat trade

by Soi Dog Foundation USA

Help dogs rescued from the barbaric dog meat trade

Project Report | Jun 9, 2015
PROGRESS IS BEING MADE TO END THE DOG MEAT TRADE IN THAILAND AND VIETNAM!

By Martin Turner | Volunteer - Media Relations

Cao Treo Border Poster Vietnam May 2015

Thanks to people like you, we're able to make big strides in bringing Thailand's illegal dog meat trade to an end. But we still have a long way to go, and we still need your help. The dogs at the shelter in Buriram which we saved from being illegally transported to Vietnam for the dog meat restaurants are all doing really well. The great news is that over the last 12 months, we've managed to get about 150 of them adopted to various countries overseas. But we still have well over a thousand left at the shelter, and we still need to pay for their medical costs and food. It's only because of people like you that we can do this.

Our work in terms of raiding and closing down illegal dog slaughterhouses in the North East of Thailand also continues; on the 1st of June 2015 and the 2nd of June 2015 we conducted separate raids on two slaughterhouses in Udonthani and NongKai respectively, rescuing one live dog in the process and arresting three people, who have all now been charged by the police. Unfortunately, we also recovered 42 kilogrammes of dog meat in the process.

On 24th of May 2015 we were able to erect four large posters at the border crossing between Laos and Vietnam at Cao Treo, warning dog smugglers of the penalties involved in trafficking dogs. This is part of a bigger programme we are conducting in Vietnam with our partners in the Asia Canine Protection Alliance (ACPA). Several famous Vietnamese pop stars, dance stars, models and movie directors contributed their time free of charge to make a viral video, which is now circulating not just in Vietnam, but globally. It calls on the youth of Vietnam to sign a petition requesting the Vietnamese government to make the trade in, and consumption of dogs, illegal. You can help by watching the video and signing the international petition at https://savedogs.soidog.org/vietnam

We're also expanding our dog and cat sterilisation and vaccination programme to Khao Lak in Phang Nga (Thailand) and to Bangkok soon as well. And of course we are still taking care of over 400 street dogs and 40 cats at the shelter here in Phuket.

All these activities are costly, and as we receive no government funding, we rely totally on people like you to help us do our work. Thanks so much for everything you do for us and the street dogs and cats in this part of the world.

Vietnamese Viral Video Still April 2015

Slaughterhouse Freezer With Dog Meat June 2015

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Mar 3, 2015
Thanks for helping us fight the dog meat trade!

By Martin Turner | Volunteer - Media Relations

Thai poster against the dog meat trade

Thanks to your incredible support, Soi Dog is pleased to announce that we are winning the war against Thailand's illegal dog meat trade. Back in 2011, we estimated that upwards of 500,000 Thai dogs per year were caught up in this barbaric industry. Some were sent to China for consumption, some to Vietnam, and some were for local consumption in northern Thailand. Thanks to you, we've managed to reduce this number down to a few thousand a year. Whilst this is a good start, we are desperate to stop the trade completely, hence there is still much work to be done.

We've now put up over 3,000 posters in north eastern Thailand warning dog smugglers of the penalties they will face if they are caught, and encouraging local people to call a hotline if they see dogs being transported illegally. More posters are going up every day. This campaign has been hugely successful, with over 100 arrests so far. The Thai army has been very supportive of our actions to date, and we look forward to continued successful collaboration with them.

The 1,500 dogs rescued from the horrific dog meat trade are all doing well at the shelter in Buriram, but in reality, whilst they are all fit, happy and healthy, we don't want them to spend the rest of their lives there. Two days ago we started a viral social media campaign to find forever homes for each and every one of them. It's an ambitious project; Soi Dog manages to get on average about 400 animals in our care adopted every year. So we're working even harder than ever to make sure all the dogs do get a second chance at life with new, loving families.

Finally, We are really grateful to British actors Peter Egan and Dame Judi Dench who led a number of other famous actors in an Early Day Motion on the Asian dog meat trade at the British House of Commons earlier this year. It was so successful that there will be an official debate on the subject amongst backbenchers at a later date. If we can get the British government to start pressurising their counterparts in the relevant Asian countries to close down the dog (and cat)meat industries, it will be a huge help to us.

Soi Dog could not do any of this without you. On behalf of all the helpless street dogs in Thailand, thanks so much for all your support. You really are amazing.

Adoption viral social media campaign

Dame Judi Dench at the House of Commons

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Dec 2, 2014
Thanks your support in ending the dog meat trade

By Belinda Davis | Fundraising and Communications Manager

Thank you for your important support for Soi Dog Foundation's campaign to eliminate the horrific dog meat trade in Thailand and the surrounding region.

While this trade continues, we are happy to report that a recent campaign launched by Soi Dog in collaboration with Environment Films has helped raise the awareness of this issue to levels much higher than ever before. A short video called “I Didn’t Know” starring Ricky Gervais, Dame Judi Dench, Peter Egan and other UK celebrities was launched in conjunction with a petition and the support has been tremendous. We asked people who signed the petition and have since also asked people to sponsor a billboard to help end the dog meat trade. Approximately 2,000 billboards have been placed and more are planned both in north/northeast Thailand as well as in border areas of Vietnam where traffickers transit through. (The Vietnamese posters being different than the Thai ones).

Soi Dog Foundation remains determined to eliminate the dog meat trade in the region. We continue to work as part of ACPA (Asia Canine Protection Alliance), our partnership with Animals Asia, Humane Society International, and Change for Animals Foundation.ACPA has been recently in discussions with an advertising agency in Vietnam to develop a youth campaign against the dog meat there. Part of this campaign will be the production of a viral video using local pop and film stars, based on the “I Didn’t Know” campaign. This campaign will be aimed at motivating youth to sign a petition to the Vietnamese authorities to ban the sale and consumption of dog meat, and will then directly address existing consumers of dog meat.

Soi Dog and ACPA are also planning a poster campaign at the Cau Treo Laos/Vietnamese border crossing where many smuggled dogs pass through. The local Vietnamese Department of Animal Health will seek approval from the Ha Tinh People's Committee for their approval to place the posters along roads leading up to the crossing point, and at the actual crossing point itself. Cao Treo has traditionally been the main smuggling route of Thai dogs from Laos into Vietnam.

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