By Martin Turner | Volunteer - Media Relations
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.
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