The trauma of the couple who sacrificed their thirteen dogs for covid

Eric St. John's Cu Chi (Vietnam), 23 Mar After the authorities sacrificed their 13 dogs for fear that they might spread covid-19, the Vietnamese couple Pham Minh Hung and Nguyem Thi Chi Em try to overcome the trauma by adopting new puppies, to whose care they dedicate much of their low income. Last October Hung and Em, married for 20 years, rode their rickety motorcycle with their dogs along the almost 300 kilometers that separate the provinces of Long An and Ca Mau, in southern Vietnam, in search of work, but when they arrived they tested positive for covid-19 and were admitted to a hospital. “At first I asked a policeman if dogs could stay in a quarantine center and he said yes, but a doctor in the village said they could spread the disease and they wouldn't let us,” Hung, the husband, tells Efe in the modest room he rents with his wife and dogs in Cu Chi, north of Ho Chi Minh City (former Saigon). When they were already in the hospital after leaving the 13 dogs with a veterinarian, they learned that the doctor had asked the authorities to slaughter the animals, about 7 years old. “They burned them alive,” says Hung, 50, still with a mixture of anger and sadness as he recalls the helplessness they felt when they couldn't leave their quarantine to rescue the dogs. When the episode occurred, Vietnam was still trying to stop the spread of covid-19 with strict confinements that have been easing in recent months due to the high vaccination rate, with more than 90 percent of the population getting at least two vaccines. CONTROVERSY The story caused a great deal of controversy in the country after spreading through the Tik Tok social network and many media outlets, prompting a call to end animal sacrifices to prevent the coronavirus pandemic. The initiative won 150,000 supporting signatures. In addition, the obvious poverty in which the couple lived generated a wave of generosity and they received donations of 120 million dong (4,700 euros or 5,200 dollars), which they have used to pay off old debts, to buy dogs that were to be slaughtered in canine meat restaurants, in medicines and in rice for the neediest neighbors of their village. Some of the dogs they bought from restaurants and others given to them are part of the new family they have formed since then: six dogs with which they have moved to Cu Chi in search of job opportunities in construction, Hung's trade. “When we travel, two dogs go ahead on the motorcycle, one on top of me and three in a small cage. They like it, they're used to it,” explains Em, the wife, who had remained silent with a grim gesture while her husband recounted the misfortune that happened to her former pets. SIX DOGS IN 12 SQUARE METERS The couple and the six dogs live in a meager rented room of about 12 square meters until they find a job that allows them to afford a better house. “With about 100,000 dong (just over 3 euros) we all eat for two days, I prepare the same food for the dogs and for us,” says 36-year-old Em. While her husband speaks, the wife administers medicine to one of the puppies suffering from a stomach infection with a syringe, while the rest run around the precarious room they share with their owners. If you're lucky, Hung will find a job that gives him about $14 a day, enough to pay rent for a house and feed his entire “family”, which includes pets. The couple's love for animals and the time they spend every day caring for them are also the way to fill an abysmal void that they will always bear: the tragedy of their two children who died of illness, almost at the same time, were 4 and 5 years old. “We didn't have money to cure them. Since then we wanted to have doggies. When I came back from work they were waiting to greet me and it gave me joy,” says Hung. CHIEF esj/raa/fp (photo) (video) (photo) (video)