Mê Thú Cưng - Pet Magazine for Vietnam Số 4 | Issue Four | Page 73

Animal Rescue & Care Vietnam 66 75

our social impact as one that
affects human health and the
environment is the best way
to being understood by other
development sectors, the
government, and corporate
and individual donors as being
such an important part of civil
society. Putting ourselves in
a category of other nonprofit
development organizations that
are legitimately recognized by
the government will help us to
remove the stigma we have of
being just about the animals we
rescue.

Collaboration and
organizational capacity
building
In a country of 90 million people,
there are certainly a huge
number of animal lovers. There
are organizations with 30,000
likes on their Facebook page,
and some with just 200. Then
there are animal rescuers that
are not organized and named,
receive no donations, and
operate in their own little island.
All of us have the one goal of
improving the lives of animals in
Vietnam and yet we lack a widely
accepted collaborative platform
that will increase the ability
of all organizations to work
better in their communities.
We should be learning from
one another, setting a standard
set of industry practices for
sheltering, and helping to
educate one another about
the rights of animals and how
to protect them. In addition,
we would become one voice.
As many small, unconnected
organizations, we are merely a

quiet hum of whispers. Together
we have power and we have
a voice that will be respected
when we move forward with
legislation, legal recognition,
and public awareness
campaigns. This is a hard job
and we cannot do it alone. We
need each other to lean on and
to learn from and to help build
each other up together. We are
not competing, so let’s work on
helping each other build up the
smaller organizations and teach
them the skills that will help
them to carry out the work of
animal welfare more effectively.

Enacting and enforcing
animal welfare legislation
This step is truly on the horizon
for Vietnam as it is for many
countries in Asia, yet many
Vietnamese tell me it will never
happen. This is simply not
true. Laws already exist to
prevent people from owning
captive wildlife. While it is not
always enforced well all over
the country, it exists on paper
and wildlife organizations are
able to use this legal code to
get the appropriate authorities
to enforce the laws for animals
that are confiscated or are
found being smuggled in the
illegal wildlife trade. This is
a start. We can grow from
this. Enforcement is another
level of this work that requires
assistance from far more
than animal welfare groups
in order to get anywhere, but
as we all come together to
reduce corruption, there will
be progress here, too. Holding
a government accountable to

Mê Thú Cưng

its own laws that protect the
rights of living beings and the
environment is the duty of all of
its citizens. Getting legislation
passed that protects wildlife,
livestock, and domestic animals
is a very important step in this
process of ensuring that animal
abuse and neglect does not
go unpunished. Hiring legal
experts and those capable of
getting these measures passed
through the government is
necessary to get anywhere with
this. I can’t say how many times
I have had emails and calls
from people asking if there is
anything that can be done for
some video of animal abuse
made in Vietnam. No, nothing
can be done, I say, because we
have no legislation. Let’s get
laws and make sure they are
followed and enforced.
If you are an animal welfare
professional, educate yourself
on what laws do exist for
animals. If the animal welfare
specialists don’t know, how is
the general public to know?
We often see petitions for
prosecuting abusers, but no one
seems to have any idea what
laws would even protect animals
and what government agency
has the jurisdiction to enforce
these laws. We need to have
this information and be armed
with it when we are alerted to
abusive situations.

Part 2 will be published in Issue
Five of Me Thu Cung; the Animal
Welfare and Rights in Vietnam
issue.

CONTACT MS. BESCH | GOFUND ME (DONATIONS) | VAWO WEBSITE
Issue 04 | July + August 2014 | petmagazine.vn

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