[/QUOTE]
Loc steals people's dogs for a living, earning around 50 dollars per month for his endeavours, the equivalent of a factory worker's salary.

Sitting in a small cafe in one of Ho Chi Minh City's new housing projects, the 37-year-old sips his iced coffee and smiles warmly. He's anxious to downplay his exploits.

"I only steal 'Vietnamese' dogs. Then I sell them to butchers who sell them on to restaurants. Pets like poodles and Pekinese wouldn't taste good. I never steal 'Western' dogs, but I have friends who specialise in that," he said.

"'Western' dogs would either be re-sold to their original owners or sold to new owners."

Vietnamese make a distinction between dogs they eat and those they raise as pets, with the latter kind usually being either small and exotic or very large.

Son Nam, a leading scholar on southern Vietnamese culture, says taking dogs from the streets dates back as far as dog eating itself in the country.

"Vietnam's dog-eating custom is rooted in the north of the country and developed as a result of poverty. In the north, dogs were the cheapest source of protein. People didn't have anything to feed them with so they let them scavenge and then picked them up off the streets," he said.

Professor Tran Ngoc Them, who heads the cultural studies department at Ho Chi Minh City's University of Social Sciences and Humanities, believes a significant proportion of the animals at dog restaurants are still stolen.

"There are several sources for these dogs. Some are bought from countryside traders while others are stolen," he said.

However, An, owner of Ho Chi Minh City's thriving Hai Mo dog restaurant, says none of the dogs served at her restaurant were ever pets or strays.

"They are all raised especially to be eaten. We get them from the countryside," said the sprightly 60-year-old, who insists her robust health is due to a life-time of eating dog meat.

Her restaurant's menu features 10 dog dishes, including steamed dog, minced and seasoned dog wrapped in leaves, fried intestines, spare ribs and fried thighs.

A kind of sour dog curry made with fermented wine and served with noodles adds to the variety, while the most expensive dish on offer is a bamboo-shoot dog soup.

Though dog eating has come under fire in South Korea, where dog restaurants were officially banned during the Seoul Olympics and criticised by FIFA during the 2002 World Cup, the practice has gone unchallenged in Vietnam.

The communist country has no animal welfare organisations and no laws to protect animals from cruelty. Yet opinions on dog eating are divided, with many Vietnamese seeing it as unsavoury.

Son Nam argues that the south's plentiful food supply and its stronger Buddhist influence ensured dog eating never became as popular there as in the north.

"In the south dogs are considered friends of man. We would never eat them. We even burn incense when our pet dogs die."

Them agrees that dog eating is a northern custom but refutes Nam's poverty and Buddhist arguments.

"Dog meat warms up the body. In north Vietnam, as in Korea and China, people began eating dog meat to ward off the cold."

Them has little sympathy with the international outcry against dog eating.

"What FIFA did during the World Cup in Korea was wrong. They weren't objective. To be blunt, I think they disrespected Asian people."

But Them's argument cuts no ice with the animal welfare organisations that regularly speak out against dog eating in Asia, claiming it is not possible for dogs to be humanely raised for food.

Though Westerners believe Vietnamese eat dogs for superstitious reasons and to improve their virility, Vietnamese themselves pay little attention to these stereotyped motives.

"Vietnamese eat dog meat mainly because they like it," says Them, adding that eating dog meat usually goes hand-in-hand with drinking sessions.

bur/ben/dla/br

Vietnam-animals-dogs

[QUOTE]

this topic is making me hungry...

I've seen how they kill the dog and prepare it. Looks very appetising.

THIT CAAAAY... yum

NQSH, Have U ever eaten dog meat?

No I'm not that barbaric. I'm a dog owner man.

Kool,

I had some bear meat though, my boss killed a bear and brought it in for us all the have some , I didn't like it , tastes a bit like beef ..

Woah really? The only "exotic" meat I've tasted is porcupine. Very crunchy, like chicken cartilage.

you peeps eat DOG!..wah

eww.. i tried it, but as soon as i kno it is thịt cày i threw up.. yuck!

what did it taste like

i dun remember.. it prob tasted like duck..

hard meat...

Dog meat? Heee... So delicious. We call it "Vitamin Gâu gâu"

oh ok

AHHAHAHA...that made me laugh so hard, tears started forming

DOG taste like duck?

Nothing wrong with eating dogs. Just another delicacy. Anything that can be eaten is food. (Except human meat, that would be cannabalism). Just because Westerners don't eat dog meat it doesn't mean that no else can. We don't need the approval of Westerners to do something. There is nothing to defend.

anyways I don't like duck to much

Yes I don't like westerners telling us what we can and can't eat. But then again, I wouldn't be eating man's best friend.

yea i know we cant stop peeps from eating wah eva they want..buh just the thought of my dog being eaten up is just WRONG !

Yes, Hindus also believe its wrong to eat cows
Jews and Muslims won't touch pork products because it's 'unclean'.

each to their own.

How srtict are you , NQSH ! IT's a kind of food ! I'm sure U'll like when u try it ! Noboy in Vn refuses it ! Perhaps, dog is a friend of man . What do you think about chicken? they're also our friend ?

It tastes like chicken

my families dun eat dog .. n in my old town.. onli like 3 ppl eat them... any1 who is buddhism dun eat them (at least i dun think so)...

I ate Buffalo once that was the BEST damn roast beef i ever ate lol.
dog though...umm...couldn't do it.
i can't eat deer either makes me think of bambi.
I think i've eaten cat though. A chinese place I used to eat at quite frequently was shut down by the health department for serving cat. it was all over the newspapers. i though the chicken tasted a little funny.
poor kitty.
Jenny

I didn't know that a westerner could have such a healthy appetite for exotic meat.

I'll try anything once
Jenny

Let's see... dog meat huh?

Never tried it before though. I want to eat mật gấu.

^ bear r hold in china w/ really bad condition.. stop wanting bear stuff :P

I bet he wouldn't have a clue what they're for.

Confusing line.. can U explain what U R trying to say?

Good point! I had dog b/4 and it tasted really good...

How sick are some of you people? You don't betray your best friend and eat them just because they're meat. There's a moral factor that separates humans from animals. As humans, we respect and love others who are loyal and good to us.

If you're under poverty with nothing else to eat, I can understand eating dogs but why would you go out of your way to eat dogs? Like someone said, they're meat after all. Can you try some other exotic meat such as deers, buffafoes, snakes, tigers, etc...?

Not sick, how can you say sick if you never try it? If I was to serve you a dish and I didn't say what kind of meat it was, after you had it you said that was the best I ever had, then I tell you it is dog. How would you feel?

Ewww

hmmm...i've had dogs bite me before. i've had dogs chase me. i've had dogs $hit in my yard, how are they my bfriend? best friends are only the dogs you know are your best friends. not all dogs are your best friend.

also if that's the case, why do humans kill each other, shouldnt humans "respect and love their own" even more than their "best friends".

dogs are animals, the only dogs that shouldn't be eatern are dogs that you have owned and loved. now if you did that, i'd say your cold hearted.

Damn Dognappers.. they took my dog in Vietnam

let me guess

most of the people in here who like to eat dogs are christians?

because all of my friends, those who are christians like dog meats but my buddhist friends don't

You consider your dogs "men's best friends" but yet you eat other dogs. Have you ever considered that other dogs might be related to your dogs? Similarly, a friend might spare another friend's family during wartime. BTW, most of the dogs eaten are stolen or poached. How would you feel if your dog was the one under the knives?

Human kills each other for territorial gains and ideological differences. In most instances, it's strictly for survival purposes. With limited resources, human must expand to accomodate their growth. Usually, civilations will overlap each other and argue over territorial gains. They kill each other for this reason. Even during starvations as proven in WWII, brothers, fathers, and sons can kill each other over a piece of bread. Dogs are irrevelant in either of these categories. They don't pose a threat to us.

Dogs might $hit or piss on you, but so will your parents when they get old. So tell me, do you also want to kill your parents? Your baby child pisses on your face. Should you smash his head?

Da Vince, ke khong biet thi vo toi.

Again, you can camouflage a human being into an animal and hide him behind a bush. You can tell me that it's a tiger behind that tree and that I should shoot it before it has the chance to pierce my flesh. Even if I shoot the person, I'm still innocent but you're the one who's guilty.

If you want a modern example, here's a different analogy for you to digest. You can brainwash me to kill another person, but in the court of law, you will be behind bar, not me.

This whole complain against dog eating us bull$hit made up by oversensative whites.

I'm not white. I'm vietnamese. No, I'm not brainwashed by the media at all.

We may eat dogs, but at least we dont fu-k and rape animals and dogs :p

http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=1357&date=20050429
http://www.fox21.com/Global/story.asp?S=3456745

I had "mat gau" b/4, back in 2002 went to this one place outside of Hanoi, restaurant that serves exotic dishes, supposed to be illegal... They put a few drops in the wine (ruou lua moi) i was drinking, tasted pretty weird...

being born in the US .. i DO think its kinda weird eating dog meat .. &there ARE other exotic meats in the world ... but its VietNam and it makes sense seeing what VietNam goes through so i personally dont find issues with it . but everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

haha...i remember one time my dad asked me if i wanted to eat dog meat when we go to vietnam:

"Con co muon di an thit cho khong?"


hahahhah

lmfao i wonder what that was like .. my mommy just put it in my bowl and said "eat it, its good." pffft