Over the past few years, Vietnam has made it clear time and again that dog thieves are perhaps one of the most hated groups in society. Many local residents are actively opposed to the practice of dog-napping, and some have gone so far as to take the law into their own hands.
In the ongoing battle that seems to occur between dog thieves and local residents, one dog thief in northern Vietnam was brutally beaten by an angry mob earlier this week and later succumbed to his injuries, reports Thanh Nien.
Forty-seven-year-old Vo Van Tinh was caught stealing a dog around noon on Tuesday in Bac Giang province. When several local residents spotted the thief, they pursued him on motorbike. Tinh then fired a pistol at his pursuers, though no one was injured by the rounds.
By the time he had eventually crashed his motorbike and jumped into a canal, Tinh was being chased by a full-blown mob. The group managed to catch the dog thief and beat him to a pulp before calling the local police. Though Tinh was later taken to hospital, he did not survive.
This is by no means an isolated case. While some of the criminals are flippant in their response to public perception, local authorities are beginning to crack down more thoroughly on dog-related crimes. Though Vietnamese law only imposes criminal charges upon stolen dogs with a value of VND2 million or above, police have begun arresting restaurateurs involved in the trade, cutting off demand for the product.
Some have also gone so far as to say tourists are also part of the problem, claiming foreign curiosity about the practice of eating dog meat has helped to fuel the industry, while others insist tourists would stop visiting Vietnam altogether if they knew the ugly truth behind the dog meat trade.
Either way, it's safe to say that any scenario in which you're stealing dogs in broad daylight does not end well.
[Photo via Thanh Nien]
