Vienna/Hanoi, 2 October 2024 – Within the framework of the One Health Partnership (OHP) for preventing and controlling zoonotic diseases in Vietnam, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), in collaboration with global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS, convened the second Companion Animal Technical Working Group Meeting. The meeting was co-chaired by PhD Nguyen Van Long, Director General of the Vietnam Department of Animal Health, and Dr Karan Kukreja, Head of Companion Animals Campaigns for Southeast Asia at FOUR PAWS. The parties agreed that a concrete and realistic roadmap to address pressing issues, including animals in disasters, humane population management and the risks of the dog and cat meat trade is essential for future developments. Participants also emphasized that policy changes may be needed to implement effective and timely programs.

In this second meeting, the Working Group discussed several topics, including rabies control, humane companion animal management, management of animals in disasters and practices which pose a risk to priority disease control, including rabies. The importance of rescuing and protecting animals during disasters to ensure the safety and health of humans, livestock, and to avoid economic and environmental damage also formed a part of discussions. The group called on international partners to help in mobilizing resources and support the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in piloting a few non-dog and cat trade and consumption models in some provinces and cities with high tourism attraction, learning from successful experiences in neighboring countries.

Nguyen Van Long, Director General of the Department of Animal Health highly appreciates the role and significance of the Working Group, reflecting on hot issues related to animal welfare. Especially, a multi-sectoral coordination approach across the topics of health, environment, tourism, agriculture and culture is crucial to implement regulations related to food safety control, rabies infections from slaughtering of dogs and cats, as well as managing the enforcement of animal welfare for animals in captivity and violence against companion animals.

The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology reported on the situation of rabies management in humans and recommended that management agencies, especially at the local level should tighten the management and the control of rabies from dogs and cats. It further emphasized the role of communication to raise public awareness, and pointed out the fundamental solutions vaccination against rabies for pets have to ensure the health and safety of humans and animals. The parties expressed their desire to strengthen coordination between the veterinary and primary health sectors through the Working Group, with the joint efforts of domestic and international partners, to ensure seamless cooperation in rabies control.

The Vietnam One Health Partnership for Zoonoses Control was launched in the first phase from 2016-2020, with a second phase running from 2021-2025. The partnership reflects Vietnam’s support of the One Health approach. The partnership brings together national and international government and nongovernmental stakeholders under the leadership of the Vietnamese government, with seven technical working groups working on specific aspects.

As part of the meeting, participants discussed the importance of forming concrete and realistic plans and roadmaps to address pressing issues, including addressing animals in disasters, humane population management and the risks of the dog and cat meat trade. Participants also emphasized that policy changes may be needed to implement effective, timely programs.

Background

In May 2023, FOUR PAWS joined the One Health Partnership (OHP). In late January 2024, the Technical Working Group on Companion Animals, with FOUR PAWS as a permanent international partner, held its first meeting.

At the first meeting, the Working Group reached a consensus on fundamental aspects of government management and key group issues relating to companion animals, providing a basis for operations and clarifying the responsibilities of relevant parties and resource gaps to be addressed.

FOUR PAWS has been working in Vietnam since 2019 to address the risks of the dog and cat meat trade. Every year, an estimated ten million dogs and cats are captured, transported, and slaughtered for their meat in Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia. The majority of these animals are stolen pets or community and stray animals taken from the streets to supply the trade. The sheer scale of the trade and the suffering involved makes it one of the most severe companion animal welfare issues in Asia, if not the world. In addition, there are severe health implications – with links between the dog and cat meat trade and rabies, as well as conditions ripe for disease emergence. More details are available in a FOUR PAWS report available here.

A FOUR PAWS survey conducted in early 2021 across Vietnam found that most Vietnamese people want their government to act, with a total of 91% saying the trade should be banned or discouraged. When asked if they would support a ban on the dog and cat meat trade, 88% of respondents said that they would be in favor of such a measure. In addition, respondents were asked if they felt consumption of dog and cat meat was part of Vietnamese culture, with the resounding answer being no, with 95% indicating that this was not part of their culture.

Furthermore, FOUR PAWS supports local animal welfare organizations and communities with humane and sustainable stray animal care programmes. FOUR PAWS is also a member of several animal welfare coalitions: Dog Meat Free Indonesia (DMFI), the Asia Canine Protection Alliance (ACPA) and the Cats Matter Too coalition, which lobby against the dog and cat meat trade in Southeast Asia, as well as the Asia for Animals Coalition, which works to improve the welfare of all animals across Asia.