Over 1 million people around the world have joined FOUR PAWS in calling for an end to the cruel dog and cat meat trade in Southeast Asia. 

Around one in five signatures came from concerned pet owners and animal lovers in Vietnam and Cambodia, two countries where the trade remains a major problem.

FOUR PAWS’ campaign to #ProtectMillions of animals and people from the dangers of the dog and cat meat trade was launched in October 2019. Since then, tremendous steps have been taken to bring an end to the trade and help animals. Here are just a few milestones:

• Thousands of supporters in Vietnam and Cambodia spoke out against the trade by taking part in an advertising campaign to raise awareness in their countries (with billboard advertising up in major cities in these countries calling for an end to the trade).
• FOUR PAWS closed two dog slaughterhouses in Cambodia in 2019-2020. We were able to rescue more than 25 dogs and helped the slaughterhouse owners convert their businesses into sustainable alternatives that do not involve harming animals.
• Siem Reap (a major city and popular tourist destination in Cambodia) became the first province in Cambodia to ban the dog meat trade.
• FOUR PAWS conducted a first-of-its kind investigation into the cat meat trade in Vietnam, bringing global attention through world-wide media coverage on this hidden trade.
• 24 travel companies and associations from around the world have pledged their support for an end to the trade by signing the FOUR PAWS Pledge helping to apply pressure to the governments in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Whilst 2020 brought its challenges, the FOUR PAWS team and our partners across Southeast Asia took each one in stride. Not even a pandemic could stop our mission to reveal cruelty, rescue animals, and protect families from having their beloved pets being stolen for the trade.

Many of the dogs we rescued from the slaughterhouses are already settled into new homes with loving families. One of them was Apollo, a dog we rescued from a Cambodian slaughterhouse in August 2020. While being rehabilitated at our partner Animal Rescue Cambodia, Apollo was adopted by a local foster family who fell in love with him at first sight and who have given him a loving home.

We have sent and published three open letters in key media in Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia, calling on the national heads of state to take note of the 1 million people from around the world calling for them to take swift and effective action against the trade to end the cruelty and to safeguard human and animal health.

You can read the letters we’ll be sending on your behalf here:

• Vietnam
• Cambodia
• Indonesia

We simply couldn’t have achieved any of these outcomes for animals without you in what has undoubtedly been the most challenging year in recent history.

Thank you from the bottom of our heart, for signing, sharing and lending your voice to this cause and helping millions of animals. And stay with us on the journey to ending this cruelty – there is so much more to do, and we need your help.

Your signature and support is still important to #ProtectMillions and if you haven’t signed the petition yet you still can, by sharing it you can also help raise awareness of our work too.