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Has Anyone Brought their Dog or CAt to VN?
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thegoodprofessor



Joined: 03 Sep 2009
Posts: 79

PostPosted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 11:42 pm    Post subject: Has Anyone Brought their Dog or CAt to VN? Reply with quote

I'm American ( yes another American animal lover toting her dog everywhere) and thinking of accepting a job (though still looking too) Master's TEFL cert. BA 8 yrs experience etc. but I always travel with my little dog.
Does anyone there have a dog?
Did anyone bring their dog with them?

I'd love to hear from you.
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mark_in_saigon



Joined: 20 Sep 2009
Posts: 837

PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:35 am    Post subject: just do a search Reply with quote

this subject has been covered quite extensively. It often devolves into a question of if it is right to place an animal in this environment at all, as well as the morality of eating dogs and cats. The dog lovers get all bowed up over the fact that it is practiced here and that some of the posters seem to accept this feature of Asian culture.

Some people bring them, sometimes the animal makes it, sometimes they get kidnapped and eaten. The dog eaters are not going to reject or accept your animal based on your degrees or country of origin, more likely they will have a risk/reward analysis that considers the difficulty of grabbing it versus the desirability of the animal for eating purposes. The natives seem to keep their dogs safe, and the dogs seem to know to stay very close to home base. Notice how they do not wander into the streets either, they can see how that would be suicide for them. The stupid ones probably do not last long around here. The strays get picked off. I think the danger for the westerners is if the animal is alone and the housing unit gets ransacked. I doubt you would lose it when it was actually with you.
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anubistaima



Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 110
Location: Thailand

PostPosted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 5:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you're willing to do a few things in order to keep your dog safe, yes, you can bring him along. I arrived in Vietnam with one dog, left with two. I was totally paranoid about security (for the dogs, not me) while I lived in Vietnam and it paid off, because the dogs are now safe and sound living with me in Thailand. So yeah, can be done, if you're willing to work at it.
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snollygoster



Joined: 04 Jun 2009
Posts: 478

PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 12:05 am    Post subject: DOG napping Reply with quote

Have witnessed dog napping twice in 8 years here. MY friend had a nice fat cross-breed she loved a lot. One day two guys pulled up, snatched "Fatso" from her side, and drove off with Fatso wriggling. 20 Mtrs away the nappers stopped, cut Fatsos throat, licked their lips and continued their drive with Fatso bleeding all over them. My friend cried, but then said, "He was getting too old fat and lazy anyway, I was considering selling him to the butchers next week". Hmmm.

The second was when I had a rather big ferocious dog named Sam, and two nappers decided they would take and eat Sam. He wasn't sitting around for this and began his own version of who eats who, biting one of the nappers quite viciously on the face. The napper stabbed Sam in the leg, but dropped him and I had to nurse Sam back to health with a sizeable chunk out of his leg. He survived. The Police are NOT looking for a dog napper with a bit of his face bitten off. If your dog gets napped here, Police wont help.

I live in Hanoi, and there are plenty of dog meat places here that ask few questions when some stock in trade is offered.
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silvery



Joined: 16 Jul 2010
Posts: 27

PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 3:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Interesting comments on a topic that concerns me, too, as I'll be bringing a pet cat (ordinary domestic cat, and a small one).

Our cat stays strictly indoors so I am not worried about her being taken off the street. However, if someone were to break into our house/apartment, I guess they might try to take her. All the same, I'd suppose that stealing a pet would be more of an afterthought for someone carrying out a burglary on most occasions (?) unless there were the promise of fairly good resale value Sad . As snollygoster's experience demonstrates, it's not always easy to abduct a cat or dog against their will. (I don't know what techniques are employed, though). I'd have thought that in the "risk/reward analysis", getting away quickly and quietly with money/other goods would have a far higher priority. All the same, I think keeping your home and pet attended at all times is probably the best form of security.
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Andy123



Joined: 24 Sep 2009
Posts: 206

PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 3:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just a little bit of history. Years ago there was a rabies outbreak. The vaccine that was available was bad and many died. I know Viet families who have lost family members to rabies. The fear still exists.

I have seen grown men backed against the wall by a 5 kilo dog. In my experience most do not like and fear dogs. Animals are viewed quit differently here and one should be respectful of there feelings.

I know others have differing views but this is my take on things.
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anubistaima



Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 110
Location: Thailand

PostPosted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 4:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Respectful of the way Vietnamese people see dogs? Hmmmm... no. When it comes to animals, Vietnam is in the dark ages. I have ZERO respect for people who would treat a dog the way the Vietnamese do. There are exceptions, but not many. If it comes to defending a dog or defending a Vietnamese, I'm vouching for the dog. No questions. Anytime.

My dog was attacked twice by the same dog when I was walking him (on a leash). Both times by the same dog, who belonged to my neighbor two houses down. The dog was vicious and he was either chained or left to roam outside for some idiotic reason (even though they had a yard). The first time my dog was ok. The second time he needed stitches. I made such a scene that the police came and made the neighbor pay for my vet's bill (almost USD200). Do I feel sorry for the neighbor, who probably spent half his salary on my dog? Hell, no. I'm actually sorry the bill wasn't higher so they had to go the rest of the month without food. It's not the dog's fault. It's the fault of the idiotic people who raised him. If you're an idiot, you should pay for it. Like I said, I have no sympathy for the way Vietnamese people deal with animals.

All that said, lock your doors and windows when you go out. Break-ins are more likely if you actually leave something open. Sounds like common sense, but the two people I knew that had break-ins in Hanoi, both forgot to lock their windows. Don't ask for it.
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tonyjones01



Joined: 20 Aug 2010
Posts: 67

PostPosted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 7:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I know of some Viet people who have dogs as pets and treat them the same as any American pet owner would. But keep in mind that the average dog in Viet Nam isn�t domesticated and isn�t going to respond the same as Fifi brought from your home country. Most Vietnamese see and treat dogs like animals, because they are. They don�t have they luxury of treating pets as family members or fellow humans.

One of the favorite tricks of the dognappers is to leave poisoned meat in an ally. The dog eats it and dies within minutes. The dog is then sold at the local roadside stall.
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toiyeuthitmeo



Joined: 21 May 2010
Posts: 213

PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 5:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just maybe an obvious note, but pet-friendliness also depends on your city. The further away from Hanoi or HCMC, the nicer it might be for Fido. Three or four of the teachers I worked with in Vung Tau have dogs, a few others keep cats, one even raised a pot belly pig, but they're indoor pets for the most part. No problems so far--except the pig, which got too big and sadly, has long since become someone's thit heo. Also, most of my colleagues feed their pets leftovers and plain rice. Not sure if that's because it's hard to find pet food or what, but the animals seem ok with it.
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MrMrLuckyKhan



Joined: 08 Feb 2008
Posts: 282
Location: Kingdom of Cambodia

PostPosted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 11:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

hurry up and bring the lil dog over; I'm staaaarving!!!
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Hasna



Joined: 15 Nov 2009
Posts: 17
Location: Saigon

PostPosted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 5:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What about adopting/fostering dogs or cats from Vietnam? I'll be moving to Vietnam in the next few weeks, and would like to get an animal. Here in Turkey, where I currently am, there isn't the same "pet culture" that I was used to back in Canada, but I was able to find a fantastic vet that rescues injured street animals. I fostered 4 kittens during my years here, it was great.

I understand it would be super rare, but are there any places to adopt/foster an animal from? I'll be in Saigon, but don't mind traveling to get one, or even potentially hopping across a border somewhere and bringing one back from Thailand or something.
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Oh My God



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 273

PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 2:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MrMrLuckyKhan wrote:
hurry up and bring the lil dog over; I'm staaaarving!!!


Dog really IS a good meal! But don't worry about cats, the Buddhists think it's bad luck to eat cats.
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anubistaima



Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 110
Location: Thailand

PostPosted: Tue Sep 21, 2010 1:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hasna wrote:
What about adopting/fostering dogs or cats from Vietnam? I'll be moving to Vietnam in the next few weeks, and would like to get an animal. Here in Turkey, where I currently am, there isn't the same "pet culture" that I was used to back in Canada, but I was able to find a fantastic vet that rescues injured street animals. I fostered 4 kittens during my years here, it was great.

I understand it would be super rare, but are there any places to adopt/foster an animal from? I'll be in Saigon, but don't mind traveling to get one, or even potentially hopping across a border somewhere and bringing one back from Thailand or something.


The meat market. Seriously. That's how I got my dog (who is now happily living in Thailand with me). I walked by a meat market in Sapa (I was in the mountains on holiday) and he was in a cage, waiting to be sold. He was about six weeks at the time. I bargained with the guy and finally got him for the equivalent to 10 USD. Fostering/shelters don't exist in Vietnam. Giving money to the dog meat industry sucks, but at least I got this dog out (and he turned out to be a great, great dog).

I lived in Hanoi and there was ONE real vet in the city (a foreigner). There's no veterinary university in Vietnam, so vets are educated in the farming industry. They can deal with cows and pigs but know very little about dogs/cats. Before the foreign vet showed up, I had to research medical conditions and medications online and offer them as option to the Vietnamese vets, who had no idea what they were doing.

If you do adopt a dog (please get a dog; their lives are so much bleaker than cats'), please take him with you when you leave.
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anubistaima



Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 110
Location: Thailand

PostPosted: Tue Sep 21, 2010 1:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

MrMrLuckyKhan wrote:
hurry up and bring the lil dog over; I'm staaaarving!!!


Everytime there's a thread about pets/dogs, an idiot shows up to make a joke about eating dogs. You have to wonder how they got a job teachiing, since it's obvious they're lacking in the IQ department.
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CThomas



Joined: 21 Oct 2009
Posts: 380
Location: HCMC, Vietnam

PostPosted: Tue Sep 21, 2010 2:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

anubistaima wrote:
MrMrLuckyKhan wrote:
hurry up and bring the lil dog over; I'm staaaarving!!!


Everytime there's a thread about pets/dogs, an idiot shows up to make a joke about eating dogs. You have to wonder how they got a job teachiing, since it's obvious they're lacking in the IQ department.


A sense of humor goes a long way here.
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