JULY 30, 2012
BANGKOK, THAILAND

On the 24th and 28th of July a further 1300 dogs destined for the Vietnamese dog meat industry were intercepted in remote Nakhon Phanom and Bueng Kan provinces situated on the Laos border, in two separate raids carried out by the Thai Border Patrol and Royal Thai Navy, assisted by members of the Thai Animal Activists Alliance.

The dogs are now recovering at the livestock shelter in Nakhon Phanom town. Initially the provincial governor refused to allow some of the dogs to go to the livestock shelter until Soi Dog Foundation guaranteed to cover the costs of caring for them.

Three weeks ago over 200 dogs died from dehydration at a police center, when according to sources the authorities had refused to take them.
Soi Dog Foundation has already purchased seven tons of dry food and it will be shipped to the shelter along with vital medical supplies.

Volunteers from the Animal Activists Alliance Thailand and the Elephant Nature Park Foundation are assisting local staff in helping the dogs, many of whom had been several days hidden in the jungle stuffed in cages without food and water and are very weak as a result. Many have injuries.

Soi Dog Foundation has just completed a successful sterilization operation at the Khemmarat livestock center, where several hundred more dogs previously rescued from the dog meat trade are being housed.

The dogs at the Khemmarat shelter were not segregated, and with females coming into season were starting to breed, which would have resulted in potentially in excess of 3,000 puppies being born there.

A team hired by Soi Dog, have sterilized 570 dogs over 10 days. The Soi Dog Foundation has also contributed to the cost of building new fencing to enable segregation of the dogs.

Most of the dogs now being intercepted appear to be stolen pets as they are wearing collars and are very friendly. Pet owners in Thailand are being warned that gangs are now traveling across the country snatching dogs to satisfy the demand for dog meat in Vietnam and Southern China.

The Soi Dog Foundation and the Elephant Nature Park Foundation are jointly financing the cost of hiring a lawyer to fight a recent decision to allow convicted traders to claim back the victims of their crimes. “Amazing Thailand” does as the tourism advertisements suggest continue to amaze.

The law being broken relates to the illegal export of animals and carries a maximum sentence of 2 years imprisonment and/or $3,000 fine. However no such penalty has ever been imposed on the traders who are making millions of dollars per year from what is an unimaginably inhumane trade.
The Dog meat trade and eating of dog meat is abhorred by the vast majority of Thais and the multi million dollar industry based on incredible cruelty is run by in effect a criminal mafia, based around the Thai village of Ta Rae (Butcher village). Despite this being open knowledge the Thai authorities appear unable or unwilling to halt the dog meat trade at its source and thereby prevent this suffering from continuing.

Soi Dog has recently launched the “Trade of Shame” campaign aimed at ending the illegal cross border trade in dogs once and for all. To read more on the recent rescues and to donate towards the extremely high costs involved in caring for the rescued animals please visit: www.soidog.org/en/tos.

E-mail : marcelo@soidog.org
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/SoiDogPageInEnglish

The Soi Dog Foundation USA is a US registered 501(c) (3) charitable organization (tax ID # 27-1600444). All donations are deductible to the fullest extent allowable by law.

ABOUT SOI DOG FOUNDATION
Soi Dog Foundation is a not-for-profit, legally registered charitable organization in Thailand, the United States, Australia, the UK, France and Holland. Soi Dog helps the homeless, neglected and abused dogs and cats of Thailand. Our aim is to set an example for the Asian region on how to humanely reduce the number of unwanted dogs and cats through spaying and neutering, and to better the lives and living conditions of the stray dogs and feral cats of Asia.
De-sexing (Sterilization) has been proven to be the most effective way to help the animals. Soi Dog has has reached a milestone of over 39,000 dogs and cats sterilized! Totaling 39,050 dogs and cats as of June 2012. Soi Dog is made up of people like yourself, be they financial supporters, field or shelter volunteers, fundraisers etc. with a common goal of helping neglected and abused dogs & cats.