A group of young people in Hanoi has teamed up to rescue abandoned dogs and cats and find them new owners.

The team, operating out of a small room in Truong Dinh Street, Hai Ba Trung District, has attracted a large number of volunteers from across the city. Its activities are promoted on social media networks.

Over the past two years, acting on calls to its hotline, the team has saved thousands of cats and dogs. Sick or injured rescues are taken to veterinaries for treatment and, once healthy, become candidates for new owners.

Pham Khanh Quynh, the head of the team, said the main problem was that not many people know about the operation and members had to use their own money to pay vet bills, but as word spread, donations have helped offset the costs.

Quynh said volunteers worked under a lot of stress, having to deal with seriously ill dogs and cats, and animals that had been tortured by their owners. One volunteer had to watch as a litter of newborn cats was thrown from a second-storey window because the owner refused to surrender them.

The team is hoping that better awareness of dogs and cats as loving pets will reduce animal cruelty and demand for their service.

Dog meat is popular in Vietnam and dogs kept as pets are prone to being stolen and sold to restaurants specialising in the dish. Vietnam imports dog meat from Cambodia to meet the high demand.

Some photos of pet rescue team: