These products can easily be found on Chinese goods trading website Alibaba.com in which various leather products are sold as dog leather.
The trade of live dogs is illegal, and steps are being made to crack down on the dog meat industry in Vietnam. The trade is prevalent in Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos, and as has been reported in the past, is the livelihood of many people in north east Thailand. Unfortunately families are reliant on the trade, as are corrupt officials who allow it to go on.
The number of dogs being traded however is said to be down from around half a million in 2011. The problem, as is often the case in Thailand, is that officials can be bribed, and eyes can turn blind at checkpoints for the right amount of cash. Perhaps the worst aspect is the cruelty inflicted on the dogs in a trade with absolutely no regulations. The article states that dogs are sometimes “skinned alive” or before their departure have to endure the worst kind of “extreme cruelty”.
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