It's The Mutts....

So they Vietnamese people’s attitude to dogs is the most complicated I’ve ever come across.

The popularity of Dachshunds and Chihuahuas as pets is astounding, everywhere I’ve gone from North to South I’ve seen these pampered pets being treated almost as well as they treat their kids (and they really love their kids).

It makes it all the more difficult to believe the story first told to me by the tour guide who led us round the Cu Chi Tunnels three weeks ago - the “evil American” one - that her family up in the North have for generations farmed dogs for food. Now I am guessing here that they’re not farming Chihuahuas or sausage dogs (unless its for snacks) - but when I asked her what breed they eat she was suitably vague. In a country where there’s almost as many cows as people and beef is the top dish on every menu, why go to the trouble of breeding dogs for dinner?

I thought she might have been taking the piss, but when I got to the Ha Noi I was assured that it was very much true. I have to say I didn’t find a restaurant serving dog, and I’m not sure what I would’ve done if I had, but it just seems daft to me.

I guess the restaurants don’t emblazon their frontage with the words “Dog Served Here” (otherwise Jordan would be eating there) but I did see a lot of places with the word “Chien” but I’m pretty sure they weren’t ‘fancying it up’ by using the French word for dog.

The other dog thing I have going on here in Vietnam is the proliferation of the generic mutt. Everywhere I have been in the last month I have see the same damn dog! I think all the strays here in Vietnam came from one set of parents I didn’t start taking pictures till I’d seen a few, but here’s a few of the ones I’ve caught on camera so far...
































Bizarrely, there's tons of this about too. It's a chain of ice-cream parlours. If only they did pancakes, it'd be made with Fanny-batter!