A group of young people has set up a team specialising in rescuing dogs and cats in danger or being caught for meat.

The team leader is Nguyen Thanh Tuan, 27, who is working at an educational software company in Hanoi.

Tuan said the team came into operation in April 2012 with Nguyen Trang An and Nguyen Luong Tuyet Nhung being the founders. They are members of a forum of animal lovers. They knew some methods of dog and cat protection that are used in HCM City and they established the same system in Hanoi to deal with the current situation, where numerous dogs and cats are caught and sold to Hanoi restaurants.

In the early days, the group only rescued around 10 dogs and cats per month, but after a while, thanks to sharing information on Facebook, the team attracted more participants. Recently, the team has rescued nearly 40 dogs and cats per month.

After being rescued, the animals are classified based on their health condition. Those animals facing serious health problems are sent to veterinary clinics. When they recover, they will be handed over to a new owner.

A team member, Ngoc Quang, happy to see a rescued dog's good health condition

However, up to one third of the rescued animals are incurable because of their bad health history or from being left hungry for a long time.

The group also attracted some elderly people. Mr. Diep, 60 years old, in Dong Da District also joined the team. He received many rescued dogs and cats which he chose to breed at his home or he found new owners for them.

Once while writing an article on the dog meat business in Vietnam, an American reporter also gave the team money to buy four dogs being held at a slaughter house.

However the rescue business is sometimes very challenging. Two of the group members, Tran Dang and Ngoc Quang, even had to climb a tree to save a cat stuck at the top. At that moment, they felt like like actors in an action film. They also encountered snakes and centipedes and other dangers during their work. They were even bittten by the dogs and cats.

Tran Dang climbing a tree to save a cat stuck at the top

The rescue team facing difficulties

The team has tried to rescue more dogs and cats, but the difficulty is that they lack funding for their operations, particularly in the cases where it's necessary to send the animals to a vet. They also need more volunteers who are willing to take care of the rescued animals at their homes before new owners can be found.

Tuan said he wanted  to find a suitable place for taking care of the rescued animals before their new owners are found. The place must be far from the city centre so that people won't be affected.