In the mid-July 2022, we went to a land of 2,000 m2 in Cu Chi district (Ho Chi Minh City), where she was hired by Quyen to take care of her “little friends”. This place is built with high walls, bamboo beds, tarpaulins, gas pits… Every dog and cat when they come home has their own circumstances, but most of the “children” are sick, have many wounds, panic on their bodies. … by being treated badly in slaughterhouses.
Talking about her journey, Quyen confided: “At the end of 2016, the family lost a dog, then the whole family rushed to find it. When I see a place that sells dogs and cats, I go to it, just hoping to find my dog. However, when I got there, I saw dogs and cats lying in cages waiting to be sold with sad eyes and felt so guilty, so I started thinking of ways to save them.”
“First, I go to save one child, two children, five children, then sometimes hide my husband to save. Later, when I join a group, whenever a dog or cat needs help, I post it asking for help. When the number is high I grew up so much, people asked me now and then who would take care of it, then I said “if everyone saves, I will raise it.” Since then, the work has continued to drag me to now, so far I have saved a total of more than 1,000 children,” Quyen smiled as she recounted.
Quyen added that every time she goes to the slaughterhouse, there are many emotions, especially when she looks at the eyes of “the children”, she feels that it is the eyes that are pleading for help. Therefore, every time “rescue” is successful, she is very happy. “Remember once when I took the car to get money to save the ‘baby’, but when I came back, the slaughterhouse was gone, that’s when I felt very sad and helpless,” said Quyen with tears in her eyes as she thought back.
According to Quyen, there are very difficult times, especially during the recent COVID-19 epidemic, the “children” here are hungry, full, eat more porridge than rice. After that, she texted her friends, the food vendors agreed to join hands and support food, so the “baby” dogs and cats had a full meal and were no longer hungry.
“The difficulty now I need a veterinarian and experienced person to accompany me. Because here, a large number of dogs and cats are raised. If one animal is sick, it will spread to the others. I also hope that this place will be a place for veterinary students and trainees to take care and learn, which is also a good thing,” Quyen confided.
Currently, the food for dogs and cats at her establishment is 25 kg of meat and fish per day; and rice is 65kg with a cost of more than 60 million VND/month, not including medical expenses when dogs and cats get sick. In addition to the main job of selling noodles, she is also fortunate to have benefactors and volunteers to help.
As one of the volunteers involved in supporting and taking care of dogs and cats, Ms. Le Hoang Thi Nguyen Chi (living in Cu Chi district) said: “I very much admire the heart of Ms. Quyen’s family for helping the “children” “, also hope that people change the habit of eating animals like this so that there are no more scenes of theft, theft of cats and dogs or having to be rescued from the slaughterhouse.”
Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Tri, a mechanic working with Quyen’s husband, who is also one of the permanent volunteers here, said that Mr. Tri’s main job is to cook rice, cook food for dogs and cats, and clean. clean and sanitize for the “dogs” of dogs and cats.
Asking him about this reluctant “housewife” job, he laughed and said: “I feel really bad, sometimes I work until 12 at night, but looking at “them” I also feel happy. Seeing that, I also forgot all my fatigue and continued to stick with this job.”
In addition to Ms. Chi, Mr. Tri accompanies Ms. Quyen, there are also 4 volunteers running the shipper who also support and take care of the “baby” dogs. Mr. Nguyen Van Thang (living in District 12) shared: “In addition to running the shipper, our group of volunteers are often present at the camp to help join hands with Quyen’s family to clean up leaves, trash, and feces. , repair the barn, the rest is to help Uncle Tri feed and wash the dog. Up to now, I and the volunteers in the group have been supporting here for nearly 2 years. In the coming time, our group will continue to accompany Quyen to take care of the “baby” dogs and cats.
