Ban the Cat and Dog Meat Trade in Hoi An

If you would like to help get dog and cat meat banned in Hoi An (and anywhere else in Vietnam), please help to spread the word about this cruel trade. 

Hoi An is arguably the number 1 tourist destination in Vietnam. Yet it supports the dog and cat meat industry by allowing the meat to be eaten. This rightly outrages tourists, but most people don't even know that eating cats and dogs is openly advertised in Hoi An. 

How to Help Encourage the Vietnamese Government to Ban Cat and Dog Meat

• Write to the Vietnamese government requesting they ban this cruel trade. Address coming soon.
• Share the facts which most visitors to Hoi An don't know about on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter and LinkedIn. Click the Share button at the end of this page to get started and share this website.
• Join and participate in Hoi An Facebook groups and other online forums like Trip Advisor
• Sign online petitions advocating for the ban of cat and dog meat trade in Hoi An, Danang and anywhere else in Vietnam. 
• Support groups who are active with animal Welfare in Hoi An, such as Jack's Cat Cafe. Places like this have recently had to close due to lack of volunteers because of the lack of people in Hoi An in 2020. Yet they have many animals which need feeding and caring for.
• Whilst in Hoi An volunteer some time to help look after animals at Jack's Cat Cafe and other shelters across Vietnam. It takes a lot of time to look after rescued animals, even just an hour or two can be a big help.
• Donate money to shelters like Jack's Cat Cafe and others in Vietnam. Shelters like this have massive costs for animal lodgings, food and healthcare. Plus they usually have additional programs such as sterilization of local pets and educational initiatives in local schools.
• Donate food and other items to shelters. If you are unsure about sending money, ask the shelter what else you could donate. They will tell you what food and other things their animals desperately need.
• Share news articles about the cat and dog meat trade around the world. Siem Reap, the most popular tourist destination in neighboring Cambodia banned dog and cat meat in July 2020. China has also banned dog and cat meat in two provinces: dog and cat meat was banned in Yulin in June 2020. The dog and cat meat industry was also banned in Shenzhen in May 2020.

Spread the fact that this horrific meat trade exists in one of the world's most popular tourist destinations any way that you can. The more people talking about it, the more likely that the Vietnamese government will feel they should ban cat and dog meat from being eaten.

Why Should Cat and Dog Meat Be Banned in Hoi An?

People's Pets Are Stolen And Eaten Due To No Regulations

Cat and dog meat farming is illegal in Vietnam. This sounds like a good thing at first, but it actually results in more animal cruelty and pet theft.

Other meat has regulated farming, like with animals such as pigs and chickens. Because there is no farming in Vietnam, yet it is legal to serve and eat the meat in restaurants, there are no regulations, no paperwork and nobody is making sure animals aren't tortured. 

 

This means restaurants always buy black market meat. The sale and purchase of cat and dog meat is legal. But farming is illegal. This means every restaurant probably serves people's stolen pet dogs and cats. 

Many people love their pet dog or pet cat. They are heartbroken when thieves steal their family pet to a restaurant. 

Cats not eaten locally are packed tightly into small metal crates for the 2 day trip to northern Vietnam

Vietnam's Cat and Dog Meat Trade is More Cruel 

Due to the lack of any regulations cats and dogs waiting to be turned into meat are subjected to horrific conditions which often amount to torture. The people who steal cats and dogs are the lowest of the low in society. Junkies and criminals who have no morals and no concern for animal welfare. 

Because there is demand for the meat but no farming, the animals are stolen. This is usually done at night and CCTV footage shows that the thieves have horrific ways of capturing the animals. This includes horrific methods such as:

• electrocuting them with stun guns so they can quickly be paralysed and grabbed. 
• They can be grabbed around the neck with metal hooks and large metal tongs. 
• Some thieves will poison a whole neighborhood's cats and dogs by spreading meat around with poison inside in the daytime, Then they return at night to collect the carcasses. 
• Thieves will use any method possible to steal cats and dogs, even if it means beating them with blunt instruments until they become unconscious. 
• They are then thrown into metal cages on the rear of motorbikes, where they will suffer until killed.

The way cats and dogs are killed and butchered is almost too disturbing to share. It is common for cats and dogs to be boiled alive. This is often the first step and usually results in an excruciating death. Unfortunately some survive and die at the next step when the animals are gutted. They are cut open so that their innards can be removed. Sometimes butchers will hit the animals over the head to spare them this torture, but many times they do not bother and the animals suffer in the most cruel ways imaginable.

If not eaten in Hoi An they are driven up north where the meat is eaten more often. Many animals die on the journey due to dehydration and literally being cooked alive in the sun. Disease is also a common cause of death for the animals on the long drive, which can take over 2 days.

Dogs and cats are often placed in over crowded cages in the searing Vietnam heat with no shade or water. They are squeezed together on large trucks headed north with no food, no water and no space to move. They either lie on metal bars or more commonly on top of each other. There is nowhere for them to urinate or excrete, so the cages soon become stinking disease pits.

Cat trap for selling pets to cat meat trade in Hoi An

Hoi An is Overrun with Rats

Hoi An is like a rat city, because there are no cats to control them. It is common to see rats inside restaurants and bars in Hoi An and elsewhere in Vietnam. If you complain to your waiter they will only shrug. Rats in restaurants are completely normal in Vietnam. 

There is usually no vermin control so rats are free to feast and breed as much as they like. This spreads disease and makes Hoi An restaurants potentially dangerous places to eat. It is completely normal to see rat droppings on the floor in restaurants in Vietnam.

If you eat by the river at low tide you are almost guaranteed to see rats o the river bed. The rats in Hoi An are not shy either, they will get close to humans in their search for food.

Conclusion about helping ban the dog and cat meat trade in Vietnam

Share share share- awareness of the situation will help speed up the ban of dog and cat meat trade in Hoi An. Please share with fellow tourists and encourage the Vietnamese government to ban dog and cat meat. 

You will find a list of resources below, some are Facebook groups or pages where you can contribute. Please comment below if you have any more resources to share.

Please note: 

It is illegal to criticise the government in Vietnam. It is also illegal to share fake news. Please be responsible and careful when helping. This means asking the government to review their dog and cat meat laws instead of pointing out faults. This means sharing reliable news sources and statistics with others online.