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The Vietnam News

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Tropical island’s dogs avoid Vietnam’s cooking pot

PHU QUOC ISLAND - Unlike the rest of Vietnam where eating dog is considered a delicacy, locals on this tropical island in the Gulf of Thailand hold their canine companions in high esteem. On the mainland, dogs are rarely seen wandering the streets or enjoying a short nap in the sun. Should they be foolish enough to do so, they are likely to end up in the cooking pot.

Here, however, 45 kilometres (28 miles) off Vietnam’s southwestern coast and only 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Cambodia, there is an abundance of mutts, roaming the island’s streets and beaches at will. They can even be found in restaurants - but only rarely on the dinner table. Whereas Hanoi has over 100 eateries specialising in freshly cooked dog, Phu Quoc only has two dog-meat restaurants, both of which cater predominantly to mainlanders who have settled on the island.

Famed for intelligence

“Most of our customers are immigrants to the island, not islanders. We also only serve meat from cross-bred dog, not the original wild dog of Phu Quoc,” said a restaurant owner who requested anonymity. Phu Quoc’s indigenous mutts are famed for the intelligence and hunting and swimming skills, and as such have formed a close bond with islanders.

“Phu Quoc dogs are very clever. They never bark at visitors if their master is around, but they become really wild if I am not here,” said Trinh Viet Dung, who owns a local winery. “If I want to catch a chicken in the garden, I just point at it. The dog then catches it in just a few seconds and brings it unharmed to me,” he added.

With webbed feet and a two-centimeter wide strip of backcombed hair along their spines that spikes up when alarmed, the auburn-coloured Phu Quoc dogs are the size of spaniels but more stockily built. Perfectly adapted for this 565-square-kilometre (226-square-mile) tropical island, their short, smooth body hair enables them to dry quickly. “My dogs often jump into the water to cool off when it’s hot,” said Dung, who has 10 canines to keep him company and guard his family home.

Notoriously independent

Islanders traditionally raised dogs to protect their homes from wild animals, particularly poisonous snakes. Today, with the island’s population of wild animals severly depleted thanks to the dogs’ hunting prowess, they are mainly used as guard dogs.

“The dogs never sleep inside the house at night. They are always in the garden or at the gate to protect the house,” said Huynh Phuoc Hue, a native of Phu Quoc who runs a souvenir shop in the island’s main town, Duong Dong.Phu Quoc dogs are also notoriously independent.

“A mother dog never gives birth inside the house. She will always go into the garden or the forest, dig a hole and give birth and will only bring the babies back home after a month when they are strong enough,” he added. Most families on the island own at least two dogs, although no official figure on the number of Phu Quoc dogs is available. The island’s indigenous mutts also have a small following among the few canine-lovers on the mainland. Relocation, however, has not proved altogether successful.

“Out of 10 dogs that are sent to the mainland, only two or three survive. They are not used to the climate and the water there,” said Trinh Huynh Ly, a dog trader.

Agence France Presse - September 22, 2004