An Update On The Illegal Dog Meat Trade, Laos

Soi Dog agents last week toured all the border crossings between Laos and Vietnam. The main crossing used for dogs is on Laos highway 8. The guards there said they had had no dogs cross since late April and all dogs were accompanied by Thai export licenses.

The guards were unable to show these licenses and stated were destroyed after 3 months. The Thai Department of Livestock state that no export licenses have been issued (they do not approve licenses for the export of dogs) but of course cannot take action without seeing any evidence.

It would be totally out of character for Laos to destroy licenses after 3 months as generally Asian countries keep such paperwork for five years. We can conclude that either no licenses accompanied the dogs, licenses were forged, or licenses were issued in return for payment by a corrupt official.

A watch is being kept on the crossing points. Sadly our agent watched helpless as a truck loaded with pangolins was openly driven across the border. Pangolins (also known as scaly ant eaters) are a protected species and the international trade in them is banned. We also recently received a photo of a truck containing pangolins being driven across the Thai Laos border. Pangolins are considered a delicacy in China and other regions of Asia supposedly as they possess medicinal properties.

The Guardian provided a description of the killing and eating of pangolins: “A Guangdong chef interviewed last year in the Beijing Science and Technology Daily described how to prepare a pangolin: ‘We keep them alive ain cages until the customer makes an order. Then we hammer them unconscious, cut their throats and drain the blood. It is a slow death. We then boil them to remove the scales. We cut the meat into small pieces and use it to make a number of dishes, including braised meat and soup. Usually the customers take the blood home with them afterwards.’”

Source: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=626934700681602&set=a.626934664014939.1073742423.108625789179165&type=1&relevant_count=1

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Established in 2003 in Phuket, Thailand, Soi Dog is Southeast Asia's largest organisation helping stray animals. The Gill Dalley sanctuary in Phuket is home to over 1,600 animals. Soi Dog also has a treatment facility in Bangkok and responds to crisis situations throughout Thailand. The organisation is dedicated to implementing effective, sustainable solutions that reduce the suffering of dogs and cats in Asia, runs entirely on donations and works efficiently so all donations are used to help animals as effectively as possible.

The foundation is a registered not-for-profit organisation in Thailand, the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, France and Holland. It has a maximum 4-star rating with Charity Navigator, the largest and most-utilised independent non-profit evaluator in the United States, a platinum seal of transparency from Candid, the world’s largest source of non-profit information, a Top Rated award from Greatnonprofits and the Travelers’ Choice award from Tripadvisor.

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