600 dogs saved from the pot

600 dogs saved from the pot

More than 600 dogs destined for restaurants in Vietnam and China were rescued in seizures in Nakhon Phanom and Sakhon Nakhon provinces on Friday, but the smugglers fled.

Nakhon Phanom navy chief Cpt Surasak Suwankesa said a pickup truck carrying 120 dogs was seized near a port in Tha Uthen district about 1am on Friday. The dogs were about to be shipped across the Mekong River.

The smugglers caught sight of officials moving in and fled, leaving the animals behind, he said.

This was the first time smugglers had been caught moving their shipments on this route.

Smugglers with dogs destined for Vietnam usually took the animals across the boundary to Laos in Baan Peang district, but police had set up many security checkpoints and smugglers had been forced to find new routes.

In Sakhon Nakhon, a team of 23-strong border patrol headed by Patiwat Khundilokphot, a provincial livestock official, raided a building in Kusumal district and rescued around 550 dogs being held in cages. There were 53 cages, each with 10 or more dogs.

The building was in the middle of a forest, indicating it was a permanent base of the smugglers, police said.

During the raid, a truck arrived to load dogs to be shipped to Vietnam but the smugglers were able to flee, leaving the vehicle behind. Police then seized the pickup truck.

              Dogs found stuffed into cages in Sakon Nakhon on April 26, 2013, ready for smuggling to Vietnam.


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