Dog rescued from slaughterhouse closure in Thai Binh, Vietnam.

FOUR PAWS' First Nationwide Tour to Save Millions of Vietnamese Dogs and Cats

The 'Road to Compassion' tour seeks to spread the message of ending the dog and cat meat trade in Vietnam

13.6.2024

Ho Chi Minh City/Vienna, 4 June, 2024 – The global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS has recently launched its, 'Road to Compassion' nationwide tour in Vietnam to spread the message advocating for the end of the dog and cat meat trade in the country. The program has garnered significant attention and interest from the community, culminating in over two million petition signatures worldwide, including more than 250,000 Vietnamese citizens. FOUR PAWS will present the public’s call for change through a stakeholder event at the end of the year.

The tour involves a truck equipped with LED screens stopping in three major cities: Ho Chi Minh City on 31 May and 1 June, Da Nang on 2 June, and Hanoi on 7 and 8 June. At each stop, through messages and images displayed on the LED screens, FOUR PAWS aims to raise public awareness about the issues caused by the dog and cat meat trade and to rally community support to end this cruel trade in Vietnam. Throughout the journey so far, FOUR PAWS has received substantial interest and support from local residents.

“This is our first journey across Vietnam to raise public awareness about the consequences of the dog and cat meat trade, such as disease transmission, animal welfare issues, and social tensions. Throughout the journey, we have received widespread interest and support from the public, most of whom expressed outrage over losing their pets to thieves and desire specific laws to ban this trade entirely. We believe this is the time to take immediate action, especially as rabies cases are increasing in Vietnam.
Since the beginning of 2024, there have been 27 rabies deaths, an increase of 16 cases compared to the same period in 2023. The ban on dog meat trade and consumption passed by South Korea earlier this year, along with Hoi An closing one of its oldest dog meat restaurants, are also motivators for making the elimination of the dog and cat meat trade a reality in Vietnam soon.”

Ms. Phan Thanh Dung, Southeast Asia Companion Animals Campaigner at FOUR PAWS Vietnam

Previously, the “This is Not Vietnam” campaign by FOUR PAWS collected more than 33,000 messages from the public sent to the Deputy Prime Minister, 24,000 international tourists sent letters to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, and 13,500 people worldwide sent digital postcards to the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism to petition for an end to this trade.

Background
Each year, more than six million dogs and cats are brutally slaughtered in Vietnam. A FOUR PAWS survey conducted in early 2021 across Vietnam found that the majority of Vietnamese want their government to take action, with a total of 91% saying the trade should be banned or discouraged. When asked if they would support a ban on the dog and cat meat trade, 88% of respondents said that they would be in favour of such a measure. In addition, respondents were asked if they felt consumption of dog and cat meat was part of Vietnamese culture, with the resounding answer being no, with 95% indicating that this was not part of their culture.