The Buttocks Of A Dog Thief In Vietnam.

Not worth much apparently.

Our friend Nathalie Carby, who we first met in Hanoi and is now living in Miami (miss you, N&C!) pointed out this article on dognapping in Vietnam. It seems that Vietnamese are getting sick and tired of professional dog thieves who steal dogs to sell to dog meat restaurants, but go relatively unpunished by the authorities when caught.

Senior Lieutenant Colonel Ho Ba Vo, vice chief investigator in Nghe An, said “rampant” dog thefts have drawn the ire of the public over the past several years.

He said that when most local residents catch a dog thief they don’t bother to call the police. Instead, they beat the crooks to death and set fire to their remains. Vo said that lenient laws accounted for the excessively violent punishment of the crooks.

“Residents say the police just fine these thieves and let them go,” he said. “It’s true. A thief only faces criminal charges when the property involved is worth at least VND2 million (US$97). A dog is much cheaper than that and the thief is only fined for the attempted theft.”

Our students told us that this was a problem when we lived in Hanoi, but we were a little skeptical.

You might think the punishment is a bit excessive for the crime, and I'd agree, but consider this. Especially the last paragraph.

Karma? Or Dogma?

P.