Over 1,000 dogs intended for consumption were rescued by Thai authorities on Thursday evening (Aug, 11), reports AFP.

Photo: nydailynews.com (AFP/Getty Images)

The dog piles were made up of many strays, but also a good number of household pets, according to the news source.

Four trucks were stopped in the Nakhon Phanom province of northeastern Thailand. According to the Daily Mail, police swooped in with two raids near the Laos border. The trucks were stacked high with dogs stuffed into tiny cages, and 119 dogs were already dead.

According to a Nakhon Phanom livestock development official, the dogs died either from suffocation, or from being thrown from the trucks when the alleged traffickers tried to flee the scene.

The dogs were being sent across a Laos river and into Vietnam. Police case officer Captain Prawat Pholsuwan told AFP that two Thai men and a Vietnamese man have been charged with trafficking and illegally transporting animals. The men face a maximum punishment of one year in jail and a fine of up to $670.

Photo: dogilike.com

According to police, traffickers are known to round up stray dogs in rural Thai villages, and sell them for up to $33 per dog in Vietnam.

The Daily Mail reports that these dogs were “destined to be cooked and eaten.”

According to the news source, there are 13 countries that still consume dog meat. In Indonesia, the Batak Toba culture is reportedly known to cook a dog meat dish named “saksang.”

Photo: krobkruakao.com

In April, hundreds of dogs were rescued from slaughter in Beijing, China thanks to a group of animal activists. According to the Associated Press, the activists blocked a truck transporting the dogs, and negotiated for their release in exchange for $17,000.

While most reactions to these incidents are ones of horror, and many cultures are disturbed by the thought of eating a dog, some have asked — what is the real difference between eating dog meat and cow meat? Or eating any other animal for that matter?

While the condition that these dogs were found in is considered atrocious, many other animals face similar mistreatment in the United States.

Photo: krobkruakao.com

Earlier this summer, Mercy for Animals, a Chicago-based animal welfare group, unveiled to the public undercover videos of livestock mistreatment.

The Associated Press reported that in the video, “sows are shown in small cages, known as gestation crates, that limit their ability to move, and workers are shown castrating piglets and removing their tails without anesthetics…There are repeated shots of workers tossing piglets across a room.”

Smugglers often steal dogs from rural villages in Thailand then transport them across the Laos river into Vietnam to be sold for human consumption. Most people would be shocked to discover that there are still 13 countries around the world where it is legal to consume dog meat.

The traffickers in this case will only face a year in prison for illegally transporting animals and a fine of merely $670. That in itself is a crime!

A Nakhon Phanom livestock development official said 1,011 dogs were being held in a government shelter after two separate raids in Nathom and Si Songkhram districts.

She said an additional 119 had died either through suffocation in the cramped cages or when they were thrown from the back of the trucks as the alleged traffickers sped away from arresting officers.

Two Thai men and a Vietnamese man have been charged with trafficking and the illegal transportation of animals, police case officer Captain Prawat Pholsuwan told AFP.

“The maximum punishment is a one year jail term and a fine of up to 20,000 baht ($670),” he said.

The dogs were transported from nearby Sakon Nakhon province and were destined to be taken across the Mekong river in Laos and into Vietnam, Prawat added.

Traffickers, who round up stray dogs and barter for pets in rural Thai villages, can receive up to $33 per dog in Vietnam, police said.

Sources: huffingtonpost.com, news.maktoob.com, veracitystew.com

Jack Russell terriers are among the more common “meat dogs”. If it isn’t right for some people to eat dogs, then it isn’t right for us to eat any other animal; for they all have emotions and feel pain, just like our beloved companions.

Children walk past cages of dogs awaiting slaughter at the Market. Watching the slaughtering process hardens their hearts toward the pain and suffering, until they feel nothing. The more we harden young hearts, the more we perpetuate cruelty and violence in the world.

A freshly killed dog lies on top of a cage of birds. Cuts of dog meat rest on top of another cage in the foreground. All of this is visible to the caged dogs in the nearby cages. This picture shot was taken at the Moran Market.

This dog butcher gestures to stop photographing his operation at the Moran Market. To us, it seems obvious that dog meat purveyors know perfectly well that most of the world disapproves of their “business”, and they don’t want the evidence circulated.