(TH) Man's Best Friend for Dinner

[Guest guest]

Hi Cate,

On Dec. 9th Chiang Mai held its annual dog show at the sports stadium. Love

Animal House and Grant's dog/cat rescue under Thai Animal Guardian Assn. joined

hands to start a petition against eating dog meat and we sold T shirts with the

message in Thai. There was a great response because everyone wanted to support

the King. On his birthday Dec. 5th, King Bhumiphol opened a photo exhibition of

his beloved street dogs and asked that mercy and compassion be shown to all

animals this year. Next year HRH will be 80, so we have now come up with the

idea that we want to push the interim government, who loves the Royal family, to

make a law in Thailand that consumption of cat and dog meat is illegal. This

would be a great gift for His Majesty.

Yesterday animal rights lawyer Sanya Sukrasorn went to San Patong market to

investigate the situation. He found dog meat readily available. If you want

fresh meat, come 8 am, it's 40 baht a kilo. The market was full of 'chadao',

even grilled organs, 5 restaurants served dog in every way.

If you have a foreign big dog for sale, they pay 600 baht. Golden Retrievers

are especially delicious!

Several people have reported their pure breed dogs stolen lately, even some

people at the dog show. Including Jack Steiner who has sold Thai Ridgeback dogs

to Nicholas Cage. His dog was stolen last week.

Several months ago, two motorcycles were seen driving slowly down a dark city

street late at night. One guy had a club and the other guy had a snare. They

circled in on a black dog who slept in front of a condo on the sidewalk. Before

the security guards could stop them, one guy raced past, clubbed the dog on the

head and the other guy came behind and snatched it.

Today, we found a case with an old dog who had been clubbed on the head so his

brain expanded 10 times out of his head. He was still walking around looking for

his master who had abandoned him a month before. Neighbors fed him and tried to

get him to stay inside like he did when his former owner was there, but he

waddled out every day and came back late. Ate very little. Then some drunk men

came and hit him on the head and wanted to take him, but the people stopped

them. They took the dog to the hospital, but after it got back they did not care

for the wound very well, so today when we found him, he was in a very bad

condition.

Sanya called the Thai newspapers and even ITV came.Everyone was so shocked to

see the poor dog, who incidently was the sweetest old fellow. Even after what

happened to him, he let strangers care for him. I held him when the vet gave an

injection and he didn't even twitch, just looked at me with his one sad eye. His

name is Tub and he is the one who had to suffer so that others may be saved. We

don't know how long he has left or if he will survive. The vets are trying to do

their best. I will get his picture from the press tomorrow and send to you.

We now have the sympathy of the press who have agreed to cooperate with us on

every abuse case. Tub will be in every newspaper in the morning and probably

came out on ITV this evening. We are warning people that pets are getting

stolen. Please don't abandon your pets on the street. It is dangerous. People

are eating dogs in San Patong. If you are outraged, please join our petition. We

need 50,000 signatures from CM. The press will help us, when we have the

signatures, 200 people will go to San Patong with the press and make a big

demonstration. We demand it be shut down.

Chiang Mai Journal has agreed to print this message in colour on the front

page continously;

see attachment - pets prayer.

Okay well, that's our plan. We need all the help we can get. So if there is

anyone out there who can add unto this, then please please do so. I tried to set

up a petition on the petition site last night but it didn't go through because

of bad internet disturbance. So I will try again later.

Regards Marianne Willemse

Love Animal House Thailand

 

Cate <cateanna wrote:

Man's Best Friend for Dinner

12/12/2006

 

THAILAND (Reuters) - As the cold season approaches, many people in Thailand are

turning towards their furry friends for warmth.

 

But not for fur coats or mink shawls...

 

Here people are enjoying more winter time with their pets ... but with the aid

of a knife and fork.

 

Dog meat has always been popular in the northern city of Chiang Mai, but as

temperatures drop, an increasing number of roadside food stalls are cooking up

canine dishes.

 

Chado is said to be sweeter than most other meats and costs less than half of

beef and its popularity is largely due to the belief that it's good for stamina

and virility.

 

Known as " chado " , the meat is often served grilled or fried and in the form of

soup.

 

" It is believed that if you eat dog meat it will be good for stamina and it will

warm up the body when the weather gets cooler, " said one Thai resident.

 

Dogs are sold daily by villagers to the biggest dog butcher of San Pa Tong

district, but it's not uncommon for some villagers to slaughter their pets

themselves and cook them at home.

 

The tradition, however, has sparked outrage from Thailand's dog-loving community

who say the practice of eating man's best friend is both cruel and unnecessary.

 

47-year-old dog lover, Chutimon Panpaeng says, " I disagree with it. I really

hate it, but it's their right to eat whatever they want. But in fact there are

so many things they can eat, so why do they choose to eat dog when they could

have beef, duck or chicken? "

 

But for those with the acquired taste, the choice is simple. The meat of black

dogs is most popular among diners and is believed to provide more sustenance.

 

Dog meat is eaten in a range of Asian countries including China, Korea and

Vietnam.

 

http://www.cbs47.tv/news/weird_news/story.aspx?content_id=B5BCA416-3930-4D42-9E0\

4-803F63AE7346

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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