Exposing North-eastern Thailand’s Illegal Dog Meat Trade

[churchill]

A recent investigation by foreign journalists has uncovered the gruesome dog meat trade that flourishes in North Eastern Thailand, specifically in the village of Ta Rae, Nakhon Phanom.

Thailand, the 4th of December 2009 [PDN]: A recent report uncovered the illegal trafficking of dog meat from Thailand to Vietnam, where the price of the meat has exceeded that of pork and is considered somewhat of a delicacy by locals. Due to alleged corrupt politicians and police officers the trade has been allowed to continue for generations with everyone benefiting from the profitable trafficking. The illegal business provides workers with a better income and way off life than if they were to be rice farmers like many other inhabitants of North Eastern Thailand.

Due to such a prevalence of stray dogs in Thailand (similar to the Kangaroo situation in outback Australian), coupled with the demand for the meat in Vietnam, the illegal trade has become very lucrative for some enterprising villagers. The locals have taken to trapping, killing and butchering the stray dogs before selling them to the Vietnam. The profitable trade nets a big return for the poor farmers of the area and allegedly the corrupt government officials.

In the small majority Catholic village of Ta Rae in the majority Buddhist Thailand have become dependant on the underground market for dog meat, with many quitting the farming life entirely in order to catch and butcher stray dogs. Local farmers are eager to be rid of the stray dogs as they a considered somewhat of a pest due to their propensity to eat the farmer’s chickens. The villagers - once the dogs are butchered - sell the prepared meat to Vietnamese distributors for US$10 a dog.

A Nakhon Phanom parliament representative, Mr Phumpat Pachonsap, explained that corruption within the local government has allowed the illegal trade to continue, becoming more prevalent than ever. Mr Pachonsap stated that "The exporting of dogs, it’s a mafia. It’s a big network involving lower-level politicians up to high-level politicians. There’s a huge profit. The benefit is huge. The profit is huge. Even the police are getting money out of it."

On the other side of the story, a local villager who is involved in the dog catching trade, Mr Wit (who wishes to remain anonymous) explained "I’ve never stopped to ask if this is wrong, it’s a way of life, passed down from the older generations. This is what my family has taught me."

Note: There is always two sides to a coin, in the midst of poverty in the region locals have looked to find a better way to provide for their families, illegal or otherwise the trade is giving some locals the chance of a better life. Will something be done about the alleged corruption? Who knows, but lets just hope that when this illegal market is finally stopped, the government of the province does not leave it’s citizens high and dry with no way to survive.

http://www.pattayadailynews.com/shownews.p...NEWS=0000011317

[Matan]

Why is selling dog meat illegal?

[Thai at Heart]

Since when is killing, selling, or eating dogs illegal? Which part of the process is the story claiming to be illegal?

I reckon cleaning the strays off the street is a public service, but most Thais would disagree.

It might be distasteful to some, but then to many meat is meat.

I think what they are talking about is the fact that the government isn't getting it's cut, but then again, when does it get the correct cut out of anything?

The illegal business provides workers with a better income and way off life than if they were to be rice farmers like many other inhabitants of North Eastern Thailand.

Or is the issue? Far too many wealthy farmers getting above their station?

[ratcatcher]

Why is selling dog meat illegal?

Why isn't this being reported in The Bangkok Post & The Nation.

I am not aware that selling dog meat is illegal either.

It is just that it is in the hands of a few unscrupulous,cruel, locals.

I have a dog and love dogs, but the problem is that the type of stray dogs commonly seen lurking around Bangkok are probably not fit for human consumption so they tend to round up healthier looking dogs and sometimes pets.

I am sure that humanely slaughtered and butchered, these dogs would be quite edible.

In fact the lamb korma that I had recently at an Indian restaurant may well have been "sheepdog" instead of lamb?

It's just that the business in the hands of a few greasy politicos, cops and mafia low lifes. That's the problem.

Perhaps we should email the link to European and North American newspapers?

Edited December 4, 2009 by ratcatcher

[GuyLakeman]

For every dog you get a blue bucket as a reward

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

The families have been selling dog meat to Vietnam consumers for generations. I see nothing wrong with it. It probably puts a lot of these suffering stray dogs out of their misery, and trims down the excess stray dog population. There's too many stray dogs in Thailand, and it's not only unsightly, but downright dangerous. I think the newspaper article correctly compares it to killing kangaroos in Australia. Just a way to get rid of a nuisance. I'm sure Thailand doesn't want to legalize it, as the PETA-types will call for tourism boycotts, but, if PETA really understood the facts, they would see this as more humane than letting the stray dogs continue to suffer on the streets.

[toptuan]

This is news? I can't believe it's on the "BREAKING NEWS" ticker at the top!

It's just run-of-the-mill daily life in NE Thailand, as it's been for generations. Hardly breaking news!

The reporters of the Pattaya Daily Rag are really scratching deep to find a story that will hopefully raise the eyebrows of its naive farang readers, but certainly it's old hat to anyone who lives in Isaan (or SE Asia for that matter). Good try. Still sensational journalism at its best, only worthy to be deemed tabloid fodder.

"...gruesome dog meat trade..."

Every time a wild pack of dogs threatens me (quite regularly), I'm personally glad for the culling. We're not talking French Poodles, St. Bernards and Sharpeis here, folks. Little Chi Chi can come out from under the table now.

Edited December 4, 2009 by toptuan

[gotlost]

What about the rest of Thailand. The Thais eat dog meat everyday.

[PattayaParent]

There's never any problems with stray dogs in Viet Nam or Korea for some reason?

The people of NE Thailand have eaten dog for generations, it's only when the squeemish Western NGOs went there and objected to seeing skinned dogs hanging in the market stalls that it all went 'underground'.

[Tod Daniels]

Everyone I know of up-country has several of the blue buckets that the stray dog buyer trades you when you turn in a dog. Most dog buyers even give you a frickin’ soup can to wire around its muzzle so it can’t bite as well as run regular routes so people know when to start collecting the extra dogs in the area.

In all my travels here I've yet to see dogs slaughtered and butchered to take out of the country. There’s no cold storage so the meat would go off long before it arrived. They lug ‘em out live, not dead. It is not uncommon to see dogs packed in every type of makeshift cage piled high in back of trucks as they make their way out of the country.

Certainly if selling dog meat were in fact illegal the thai border police wouldn’t let a truck FULL of dogs out without some ‘incentive’ or maybe they get a free blue bucket too.

BTW: Dog doesn’t taste all that bad although I find it a little fatty.

I too am amazed it made the "Breaking News" ticker.. We must really be starved for anything resembling news today. ..

[Moruya]

What about the rest of Thailand. The Thais eat dog meat everyday.

What complete nonsense

[PattayaParent]

BTW: Dog doesn't taste all that bad although I find it a little fatty.

Depends which parts you eat. Stay away from anything that looks like a hot dog.

[churchill]

http://www.globalpost.com/video/commerce/0...ae-rae-thailand

[PhilHarries]

Never seen it for sale here in Viet Nam but have never really looked too hard for it. Some restaurants have meals of pork stated as cooked dog style, not sure what that means but I think it is slow baked in clay pots. Having said that I have never seen dog meat for sale here there is a most agreeable lack of stray dogs on the streets.

Personally I can't see the problem with it. So they are generally pets? So are rabbits and some people keep ducks, geese, sheep and all sorts of farm animals as pets. The French eat horse meat. Some South Americans (Equador?) eat guinea pigs.

The problem here is that some bunch of upstart rice farmers have got too big for their boots and are making money that is bypassing the local "tax" system and the overlord is not happy. These people need to be taught their proper place in the local hierarchy, God knows they might even get enough money together to enter politics and that will not do!

The article mentions foriegn journalists but makes no further reference, anyone know who they were and what was the publication? This is just up the UK Daily Mail's or Daily Express's street, anything to bash Jonny foriegner.

I can see people's concern about possible theft of family pets but then if you care for your dog you will keep it from wandering the streets.

Funnt how this makes news but the slaughter of sharks purely for their fins is just not discussed.

[rkidlad]

I've eaten a few dogs from Nana

[RKASA]

They eat rat around here, guess we need a crackdown on that. They catch them in the fields so I think it would comes under small game department. oh and fish lets not forget fish, fish have feelings too.

P perfectly

E edible

T Taste e

A animals

[steveromagnino]

widely known throughout Thailand that Nakhon Phanom and Sakhon Nakhon as well as the Vietanamese are the areas that eat dog; most of the rest of the country for the most part does not.

Guinea pigs etc were originally one of the few sources of protein in South/Central America; in fact much of the world's development has been based on the lottery of which domesticable animals and domesticable plants originate where; which is why after domesticating a few species (dog, cat, horse, buffalo, camel, etc) mankind has failed to domesticate more in the last 100 years despite all the advances of science (cheetah, bear, zebra, hippo, etc all remain beyond the skills of mankind to domesticate).

Ditto for crops - note the lack of success is domesticating the acorn (it remains mostly unable to be eaten, although some acorns can be, however breeding the trees to get that gene to be dominant as occured IIRC for some other plants which were also originally inedible mostly, is a lot harder than for certain plants such as wheat, barley and rice which are kind of like the best carbs sources to be domesticated, and also tended to be in a few parts of the world).

This is why the aborigines for instance were unable to develop, because Australia did not have domesticable animals or crops; all of those were introduced. All areas where intensive farming could occur (eels in the Darling/Murray rivers for instance) was well underway when Aussie first got rediscovered by the Europeans.

This also explains why some areas in the world eat the protein that is most available; in Isaan this means dog in some areas, and in other areas includes rat, frog, insects, etc. Dog being an omnivore is not exactly a bad animal to eat; pig is of similar if not more intelligence, somehow that one's ok to eat. Snake apparently is yucky to eat in parts of the world, then other places not.

And when we think of how cruel a delicacy like foie gras is on one level (massively obese diabetic sick birds with huge inflamed livers) yet how much birds love to eat (it isn't like they are turning down their grub which results in them being the wing flapping equivalent of Rosie O'Donnell or the equally happy beer swilling singlet wearing balding bar stool testers at Soi Nana) we have to question what right we have to apply our own local tastes of what is acceptable.

Anyone who has done time in a slaughter house or chicken farm would be well aware that for many of the animals in the west, the trip to turning into some nice attractive cuts of meat in the local Tesco does not include any elements of dignity and considerable terror and pain for the last moments of their lives. It isn't like us meat eaters are out there doing a great job being wonderful to all of nature's creatures.

Fair enough, not nice to eat someone's pet. However, I don't think there is too much of that going on.

Edited December 4, 2009 by steveromagnino

[Trex52]

The last time I looked....ranching was very legal and alive and well in places like all over Austrailia and in Texas, just to name a few. I am an ardent dog fan...I have one myself as a pet. But let's face it people....human population trumps any other mammilian species on this planet. I am not a vegetarian, therefore I eat meat. Be it fish, other mammals or even the occasional insect....In a country where dog is man's best friend, they eat the revered mammal of India....BEEF(USA)! And don't think twice about it! And in Europe, horse meat is a delicacy...hmmmm.....Why the triple standards...either you are an omnivore....eat lots of things, or you are a vegetarian. And as far as vegetarians go...(I am indeed a member of PETA...people eating tasty animals)...we all have choices. I didn't scratch my way to the top of the food chain to not eat meat. But that is just me. I really enjoy my dog and wouldn't eat him today....but if it came down to it...would I starve to death to see that my dog got something to eat, instead? Reality is real biology in action. Deal with it.

[dom samui]

They eat rat around here, guess we need a crackdown on that. They catch them in the fields so I think it would comes under small game department. oh and fish lets not forget fish, fish have feelings too.

P perfectly

E edible

T Taste e

A animals

:D

They eat everything with four legs........ except the table !

[TAWP]

What is illegal is capturing and slaughtering the free-running dogs, unless one would have a dog-hunter(...) license.

To have food-farms with dogs for meat and fur is not illegal if one has the permits required.

[steveromagnino]

What is illegal is capturing and slaughtering the free-running dogs, unless one would have a dog-hunter(...) license.

To have food-farms with dogs for meat and fur is not illegal if one has the permits required.

Well, I tell you what is disgusting is that story of little red riding hood. Now first of all you have this nice kids tale, and when I was reading it to my 6 year old nephew it was going well until it turned into a frigging grand mother bestiality porno when the wolf started eating out the grandma.

Seriously, they should put a warning on stuff like that.

A permit.

By comparison, I say let them eat dog. Because it is a dog eat dog world, not a wolf eating out filthy shaved grandmas world. I think I may have ruined his childhood in explaining in graphic detail what the wolf was doing.

[RickBradford]

Never seen it for sale here in Viet Nam but have never really looked too hard for it.

Go to Vung Tau, or anywhere else with many northern Vietnamese. They go barking mad for it.

[PhilHarries]

I think I may have ruined his childhood in explaining in graphic detail what the wolf was doing.

You've not done much for what's left of my life.

<edit to remove possible confusion>

Edited December 4, 2009 by PhilHarries

[Pdaz]

Well you've heard the rumours about 'Tony's dog rescue' place... Where do you think all the stray mutts he 'rescues' go ?

[RickBradford]

... gruesome dog meat trade

Why is eating dogs more gruesome than eating cats? Or pigs, for that matter? Cows, sheep, horses, monkeys, kangaroo?

If we are going to eat our fellow-creatures (which we have done for millenia), then how do we decide which ones we should or should not eat?

[PattayaParent]

widely known throughout Thailand that Nakhon Phanom and Sakhon Nakhon as well as the Vietanamese are the areas that eat dog; most of the rest of the country for the most part does not.

Guinea pigs etc were originally one of the few sources of protein in South/Central America; in fact much of the world's development has been based on the lottery of which domesticable animals and domesticable plants originate where; which is why after domesticating a few species (dog, cat, horse, buffalo, camel, etc) mankind has failed to domesticate more in the last 100 years despite all the advances of science (cheetah, bear, zebra, hippo, etc all remain beyond the skills of mankind to domesticate).

Ditto for crops - note the lack of success is domesticating the acorn (it remains mostly unable to be eaten, although some acorns can be, however breeding the trees to get that gene to be dominant as occured IIRC for some other plants which were also originally inedible mostly, is a lot harder than for certain plants such as wheat, barley and rice which are kind of like the best carbs sources to be domesticated, and also tended to be in a few parts of the world).

This is why the aborigines for instance were unable to develop, because Australia did not have domesticable animals or crops; all of those were introduced. All areas where intensive farming could occur (eels in the Darling/Murray rivers for instance) was well underway when Aussie first got rediscovered by the Europeans.

This also explains why some areas in the world eat the protein that is most available; in Isaan this means dog in some areas, and in other areas includes rat, frog, insects, etc. Dog being an omnivore is not exactly a bad animal to eat; pig is of similar if not more intelligence, somehow that one's ok to eat. Snake apparently is yucky to eat in parts of the world, then other places not.

And when we think of how cruel a delicacy like foie gras is on one level (massively obese diabetic sick birds with huge inflamed livers) yet how much birds love to eat (it isn't like they are turning down their grub which results in them being the wing flapping equivalent of Rosie O'Donnell or the equally happy beer swilling singlet wearing balding bar stool testers at Soi Nana) we have to question what right we have to apply our own local tastes of what is acceptable.

Anyone who has done time in a slaughter house or chicken farm would be well aware that for many of the animals in the west, the trip to turning into some nice attractive cuts of meat in the local Tesco does not include any elements of dignity and considerable terror and pain for the last moments of their lives. It isn't like us meat eaters are out there doing a great job being wonderful to all of nature's creatures.

Fair enough, not nice to eat someone's pet. However, I don't think there is too much of that going on.

Ditto

[tony03]

If we are going to eat our fellow-creatures (which we have done for millenia), then how do we decide which ones we should or should not eat?

Breaking News:

Some soi dogs are just flat out, inedible.

Edited December 4, 2009 by tony03

[citizen33]

Everyone I know of up-country has several of the blue buckets that the stray dog buyer trades you when you turn in a dog. Most dog buyers even give you a frickin’ soup can to wire around its muzzle so it can’t bite as well as run regular routes so people know when to start collecting the extra dogs in the area.

In all my travels here I've yet to see dogs slaughtered and butchered to take out of the country.

I don't know a great deal about this topic, but I've always assumed that the pick-up trucks with caged dogs that can occasionally be seen in the NE were heading for the Sakhon Nakhon area. Presumably there is a combination of local demand and the export trade?

Edited December 4, 2009 by citizen33

[Bagwan]

widely known throughout Thailand that Nakhon Phanom and Sakhon Nakhon as well as the Vietanamese are the areas that eat dog; most of the rest of the country for the most part does not.

Guinea pigs etc were originally one of the few sources of protein in South/Central America; in fact much of the world's development has been based on the lottery of which domesticable animals and domesticable plants originate where; which is why after domesticating a few species (dog, cat, horse, buffalo, camel, etc) mankind has failed to domesticate more in the last 100 years despite all the advances of science (cheetah, bear, zebra, hippo, etc all remain beyond the skills of mankind to domesticate).

Ditto for crops - note the lack of success is domesticating the acorn (it remains mostly unable to be eaten, although some acorns can be, however breeding the trees to get that gene to be dominant as occured IIRC for some other plants which were also originally inedible mostly, is a lot harder than for certain plants such as wheat, barley and rice which are kind of like the best carbs sources to be domesticated, and also tended to be in a few parts of the world).

This is why the aborigines for instance were unable to develop, because Australia did not have domesticable animals or crops; all of those were introduced. All areas where intensive farming could occur (eels in the Darling/Murray rivers for instance) was well underway when Aussie first got rediscovered by the Europeans.

This also explains why some areas in the world eat the protein that is most available; in Isaan this means dog in some areas, and in other areas includes rat, frog, insects, etc. Dog being an omnivore is not exactly a bad animal to eat; pig is of similar if not more intelligence, somehow that one's ok to eat. Snake apparently is yucky to eat in parts of the world, then other places not.

And when we think of how cruel a delicacy like foie gras is on one level (massively obese diabetic sick birds with huge inflamed livers) yet how much birds love to eat (it isn't like they are turning down their grub which results in them being the wing flapping equivalent of Rosie O'Donnell or the equally happy beer swilling singlet wearing balding bar stool testers at Soi Nana) we have to question what right we have to apply our own local tastes of what is acceptable.

Anyone who has done time in a slaughter house or chicken farm would be well aware that for many of the animals in the west, the trip to turning into some nice attractive cuts of meat in the local Tesco does not include any elements of dignity and considerable terror and pain for the last moments of their lives. It isn't like us meat eaters are out there doing a great job being wonderful to all of nature's creatures.

Fair enough, not nice to eat someone's pet. However, I don't think there is too much of that going on.

Didn't the Germans make ersatz coffee from acorns in WW2?

My daughter won't eat anything that resembles an animal or animal part. Chicken fillets are great but the whole bird is not. Cod and chips are in, herrings, sardines and pilchards are out. I find that weird but maybe such an attitude came with her genes.

BTW why denigrate those deficient in the hair department? Is there something wrong in aging and losing one's barnet? Why link it to inappropriate dress in public or drinking to excess in low dives? What is the correlation? Yul Brynner and Telly Savalas were considered very scrumptious by many ladies. What of the mindless who think it very fashionable to shave their heads? Is this ridiculous attitude some sort of marketing ploy by Brylcream or those that peddle snake oil remedies to make hair grow back again? Or are you tee'd off because you have to part with some of your hard earned at monthly intervals at the barbers?

[lioness]

I personally woudn't eat Dog, but everyone to their own.

One of the most horrific sights I have ever seen ( for me anyhow ) was a small restaraunt near the Laou border which displays the head of the "dog" of the day near the entrance.... I still feel sick thinking about it.