A Bone of Contention

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******WARNING******** THIS BLOG HAS SOME GRUESOME (ANIMAL-RELATED)CONTENT********THOSE WHO ARE POTENTIALLY WEAK OF HEART/STOMACH SHOULD NOT READ BEYOND THE FIRST PARAGRAPH. FURTHERMORE, DON'T LOOK AT ANY THE PHOTOS AFTER THE FIRST ONE. *********






Moving on, I went on my first road trip last week with Brian. We motorbiked to Vung Tao, a beach town 100 km from Ho Chi Minh. It took us about two hours, and was well worth it. Escaping the city was AMAZING!! The beach was pretty deserted because it was a wednesday and winter time. I brought the frisbee, so we tossed around a bit, swam, and then played soccer/frisbee with the locals on the beach. We had a seafood dinner, then drove home. In addition to getting away, this was good practice for our upcoming Tet trip. We're motorbiking (along with another guy) halfway up the east coast to Hoi An, where we have a friend (Tony) who will house us. Tet is the celebration of the Lunar New year. Everyone in Vietnam goes to the countryside to visit friends and family. Apparently it's pretty dead in the city proper.

Now, onto the other news.






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So, my neighbors got a dog last week. It was an older puppy and quite cute. At first I was pretty excited at the prospect of having a young dog next door...I could go play with it, maybe help walk it, all that jazz. Essentially, I envisioned the fun of a new pet without the difficulty of training it. Initially, we were a bit apprehensive - weren't these the same neighbors who had eaten dog for Christmas Eve dinner??? Despite this fact, we shrugged off our fears when they assured us that the puppy was in it for real. Part of the family. However, my excitement about the new dog soon subsided...he cried and barked the whole night through! And worse, he made ALL THE OTHER DOGS in the neighborhood stay up with him. The entire night was filled with intermittent barking, yipping, baying, any and all variety of dog communication. One night I literally didn't sleep between two and five! As the days (and sleepless nights) continued, I found myself wishing the neighbors would yell at it, hit it, throw rotten tomatos at it...anything to make the damn dog shut up. (I was even willing to do the dirty work meself.) In moments of penitence, I would talk myself back into patience. These things take time. Puppies always cry when they are put in a new environment. I would never suggest hitting a baby to make it be quiet. Soon, this would pass - and I was right!!

A week or so later, Marta walked out of the house, and happend to glance into the neighbors' living room...Low and behold, what did she see but the dog, laying across the motorbikes, skinned, gutted, re-sewn with metal wiring, and awaiting a stint on the makeshift grill!!! Imagine my surprise! To be at work and receive a text saying something along the lines of, "They killed the dog. It's in their family room on the motorbikes". My reaction was literally "Holy F&%$ing S*&#!!!!!!". I could not believe it. Honestly, can you imagine walking down the street in America and seeing a family pet on the barbeque??? It's just won't fly. Needless to say, I dropped my work and drove home to see for myself. And, sure enough, there s/he was. Skinned. Dead. Waiting. To. Be. Roasted...I have decided not to eat the dog (they gave us some to try). But Marta and I have a sense of guilt about the whole thing. Did we not, at one time or another, or at many different times, wish this animal dead??? Did we not spend sleepless nights cursing its existence?? Now, every time I see a dog chained to a tree, or even running around, I wonder, is it destined to be someone's dinner? I suppose, in the end, lesson learned. Be careful what you wish for.

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Photos

Dinner on the Water
After a sweet day in Vung Tao, Brian and I caught dinner on the water before biking back home. Pretty sweet atmosphere.

Fido skinned on the motorbikes
As you can see, it turns out that 'Dog' WAS dinner, and for some reason we weren't informed about it...until Marta came out one morning to see him skinned and lying across the family's motorbikes!

Sunday Roast
There's the Dad, just grilling up the dog. Who could resist that mouth-watering crispy skin???

What's up?? Just Grillin'.
Dad looks pretty satisfied in this one...he had no problem with posing for photos!

Comments

[adam]

....
janice noooooo!

[big fan]

oh hell
MOIRA, YOU HAVE FINALLY DONE IT. Exposing the vietnameses for what they are. lol. To be fair, we in US don't normally doing our own butchering, so if anyone felt this is barbaric, just go check out the slaughter house. Now, instead of cow, pig, chicken replace it with dog, cat. :). I must add most vietnameses don't eat these critters and one that do usually involve alcohols. I m ready to turn vegetarian. lol

[ThinkVN]

Your neighbor must be from the north.
Contrary to most people think, majority of the Vietnamese don't eat dog especially budhist and people NOT from the north. I know this because I am Vietnamese....I don't think I can have dinner tonight after seeing just one picture of the skinned dog.

[Squealnhog]

They could have fattened him up a bit first.