Cambodian man buys dogs to prevent them being butchered for their meat
- 5 years ago
This is the heart-warming moment a dog-lover paid 350 dollars to free nine dogs that were destined for the dinner table.
Sam Phannarith was driving when spotted the dogs crammed inside a rusty cage on the back of a motorcycle in Siem Reap province, Cambodia, last Wednesday (September 18) afternoon.
The kind-hearted businessman pulled over and approached the meat trader who was selling the pooches in nearby villages.
He even had metal pots stacked on the bike for cooking the mutts, which were destined to be butchered and eaten by hungry locals.
Sam negotiated a price of 350 dollars - the country uses the American currency alongside its less desirable Riel - and the trader agreed to release them.
Footage shows how the dogs then scampered away into nearby woodland, with the motorcyclist promising that they would not be re-captured.
Sam said: "I could not stand the idea that the dogs would be human food soon, so I bought them for 350 dollars and I am happy.
''This was money well spent. It was about 40 dollars to give them their life and freedom.
''I hope that other people will see what I did and think more carefully about stopping eating dogs in the future.
''I would do the same thing again. If I saw more dogs being taken for food I would pay to have them released.''
Dogs are a popular dish in the rural parts of northern Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, South Korea and some areas of China. In Vietnam alone, 30 million dogs are killed each year for human consumption.
Locals enjoy eating the meat and sometimes they believe that it can be a remedy for illnesses. The demand for dog meat has lead to vast breeding farms and often sees pets and strays stolen.
In the UK earlier this month, a legal ban on eating dogs was blocked by Justice Ministry bureaucrats for fear of offending cultural sensitivities in the Far East.
Conservative MP Giles Watling was told by the MoJ that one of the reasons it acted was that it would be “culturally insensitive” of the Government to dictate to other nations what they should eat.
Sam Phannarith was driving when spotted the dogs crammed inside a rusty cage on the back of a motorcycle in Siem Reap province, Cambodia, last Wednesday (September 18) afternoon.
The kind-hearted businessman pulled over and approached the meat trader who was selling the pooches in nearby villages.
He even had metal pots stacked on the bike for cooking the mutts, which were destined to be butchered and eaten by hungry locals.
Sam negotiated a price of 350 dollars - the country uses the American currency alongside its less desirable Riel - and the trader agreed to release them.
Footage shows how the dogs then scampered away into nearby woodland, with the motorcyclist promising that they would not be re-captured.
Sam said: "I could not stand the idea that the dogs would be human food soon, so I bought them for 350 dollars and I am happy.
''This was money well spent. It was about 40 dollars to give them their life and freedom.
''I hope that other people will see what I did and think more carefully about stopping eating dogs in the future.
''I would do the same thing again. If I saw more dogs being taken for food I would pay to have them released.''
Dogs are a popular dish in the rural parts of northern Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, South Korea and some areas of China. In Vietnam alone, 30 million dogs are killed each year for human consumption.
Locals enjoy eating the meat and sometimes they believe that it can be a remedy for illnesses. The demand for dog meat has lead to vast breeding farms and often sees pets and strays stolen.
In the UK earlier this month, a legal ban on eating dogs was blocked by Justice Ministry bureaucrats for fear of offending cultural sensitivities in the Far East.
Conservative MP Giles Watling was told by the MoJ that one of the reasons it acted was that it would be “culturally insensitive” of the Government to dictate to other nations what they should eat.