Dog-Napping

In general, Vietnam is a relatively safe place. Violent crime is unheard of (perhaps more due to repression in the media than a true representation of the facts, but leaving one with a sense of security none-the-less) because public aggression is societal frowned upon and, despite what one might say having been here during the war, the Vietnamese culture is much more pacifist than aggressive and violent. But what is more common to modern Vietnam is property crime.


As many of you know, Steven and I had our bicycles stolen around this time last year and a few pairs of shoes were taken from our house earlier this year. We have had friends whose wallets were picked, another whose bag was stolen from her motorbike, two whose mother's were victims of purse theft during their visits here, cell phones disappearing off tables, a rash of houses broken into in upscale, expat neighborhoods, etc. I would suspect that anyone who has lived in Vietnam for any length of time as either had something stolen or has heard of someone who has had something stolen. That property crime is common is a well known fact, understandable due to the growing class divide, and I have just accepted it as a part of living here and try to increase my vigilance with our possessions. But there is one particular form of property crime that I find especially abhorrent: dog-napping.

While we don't have many friends with dogs, we haven't heard too many personal accounts of this particular act, but we did hear of it happening to Steven's principal last year and a few students and through conversations, you learn that it happens quite often. Much like a movie, you return home to find that your dog or dogs have disappeared. You send your Vietnamese friend, neighbor or staff out to inquire with the neighbors, who come back saying that they saw a man on a motorbike, or some facsimile there of, taking your dogs but they don't know whom or to where. You send them on a more detailed mission from which they return having heard that your dog (dogs) had been seen at a particular location and that when they went to investigate further, they were told that you can have your dogs back for two million dong a piece (about 115 US). You fork over the ransom money and your friend/neighbor/staff is allowed to retrieve your dogs, which are then returned to your yard, safe until the next person comes along to steal them. And this scenario only plays out if you are lucky. Some dogs are never heard from again.
 
My impetus for writing this was a story posted today in a neighborhood forum from District 2 where a woman recently experienced a version of the above scenario and is now awaiting another call from the dog-nappers, who have informed her that her dog has been sold for a some of 2.5 million which they'll have to pay to get him back and which she'll have to pay on top of the 2 million previously quoted ransom. I hope she gets her dog back safely and doesn't let him out unsupervised in the future. Vietnam is a dangerous place for dogs.