Image source, Pham Minh Hung
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A video of a trip with a dog and piled items has gone viral on the social media app TikTok.
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When cases of Covid transmission soared, this Vietnamese couple left Long An province on a motorbike with their 15 dogs.
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The couple later tested positive for Covid-19. From their hospital beds, they learned the news that the 12 pets had been killed by the authorities for fear that the animals could spread the virus.
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“My wife and I cried so much that we couldn’t sleep,” Pham Minh Hung, a 49-year-old mason, told the BBC.
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“I don’t want to believe it actually happened … I can’t do anything to protect my children,” she said, referring to her beloved dogs.
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Their stories, documented on social media apps TikTok, has sparked a strong reaction in Vietnam, and a petition calling for an end to the practice has garnered more than 150,000 signatures.
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Memake a lot of people touched
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The latest wave of the most severe Covid-19 has hit Vietnam since the start of the pandemic.
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Strict lockdowns in recent months have left many migrant workers unable to earn a living, and forced at least one million people to leave major cities.
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Pham Minh Hung and Nguyen Thi Chi Em, 35, were among them.
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On October 8 they embarked on a 280km journey with their dog and three relatives, who also brought three dogs and a cat.
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The couple headed to Khanh Hung in Ca Mau province, a relative’s hometown, as cases of Covid were not as high as there.
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Image source, Pham Minh Hung
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Many people took to social media to say they were touched by the couple’s love for their dogs.
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They posted videos of their journey online, showing them on a motorbike with 15 dogs and their belongings piled on top of each other.
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The couple became popular with many social media users cheering them on and wishing them a safe journey.
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Some said they were moved when the couple wore raincoats to cover their dogs in the pouring rain.
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Among social users even then deliver water and food to them.
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As their journey continued, the couple gave two dogs to a volunteer after entering Ca Mau province, while the other died. The rest continued their journey.
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But the couple and three of their relatives tested positive for Covid after reaching Khanh Hung.
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Everyone traveling across the province is required to undergo a test.
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They were then transferred to a hospital for treatment – while the animals were left in a quarantine centre.
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But local authorities killed 12 of their relatives’ dogs and pets without notifying them beforehand, state media said. This post was later deleted.
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It is not clear how the animals were killed. The official police newspaper carried photos showing them being burned.
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“Disease control should be prioritized in the first place and the decision to kill the animals as soon as possible is a necessary precaution,” local official Tran Tan Cong said during a press conference on Sunday.
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‘Barbarian actions’
Many reactions circulated quickly on social media, most of which called the decision “cruel” and “heartbreaking”.
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Actress Hong Anh, member of global animal welfare organization Four Paws, called him “barbarian” and said he would send a petition to the organization.
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Image source, UGC
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The couple is still recovering from COVID-19 at the hospital.
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The killings were “unethical” and “ridiculous” and there are no guidelines that say pets should be killed if their owners become infected, said Vu H Nguyen, scientist at the City of Hope National Medical Center in the US.
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“There is no scientific evidence that dogs and cats can be an intermediary for transmission of Covid to humans. However, people with Covid can sometimes transmit it,” said Dr Vu.
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The animals were asymptomatic, or had only mild symptoms. Everything recovered quickly.
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“There are several ways to resolve in such situations, such as quarantining them in the cage; contacting the relatives of the owners or engaging social organizations to care for them until the owners recover,” said Dr Vu.
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‘War mentality’
Vietnam has been praised for its successful handling of the virus at the start of the pandemic, to which the World Health Organization (WHO) says it responded quickly and extensive contact tracing.
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Nevertheless the Delta variant brought the country to its knees.
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There were reported to be 840,000 cases and more than 20,000 deaths in total. Some of the detected cases occurred during the latest wave.
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Vietnam has been working hard to contain the virus, although Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said last month that there had to be a plan to get people ready to “live with the virus”.
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Many people have been indicted and convicted of spreading the virus, and some have been sentenced to up to five years in prison.
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Last month, a video showing police officers breaking into a flat in southern Binh Duong province, which went viral.
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They dragged out a woman suspected of having Covid to take a test while her young son was crying.
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This incident gave rise to a wave of reactions from the public.
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However, the decision of the authorities to destroy the pet was not surprising, said observer Le Anh.
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“The Vietnamese government has placed the highest priority in the fight against the coronavirus.
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“There is a slogan ‘Fighting this pandemic is like fighting an enemy’. It means the country is at war. You cannot expect rational and humane behavior during war,” he said.
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The most difficult thing for Pham is that he finds out that his beloved animal has been killed by someone else.
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He is determined to hold the authorities accountable.
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“I raised my children for about six years, I definitely want justice for my children,” she said from the hospital.
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