In a small alley in Tan Loi Ward, Buon Ma Thuot City, in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, Lieutenant Duong rescues and raises these dogs all alone. They are the lucky pups, taken under Duong wing after being abandoned or destined for the slaughterhouse.

Duong, who is working for Buon Ma Thuot City’s Traffic Police Division under Dak Lak Province’s Police Department, has a special love for animals. When he was a child, he loved playing with dogs, holding them and teaching them skills.

Now he is the father of 60 dogs. Duong's day starts at 5am and only ends at midnight. He cleans up the crates and goes to the market to buy food for dogs before going to work with the traffic police. Duong spends his lunch break at home, cooking rice for dogs and feeding the ill and weak animals. In the evening, when he finishes his part-time job, he returns home to prepare meals for all his pets and checks the ill dogs to make sure they are healthy.

Duong said every day he pre-orders and picks up fresh food to cook for dogs. Meat is washed with salt to ensure food hygiene.

“They are like children. They look at each other’s bowls to make sure they’re treated fairly. Ill dogs sometimes skip a meal, and only finish it when I sit next to them and pamper them,” he told nhipsongviet.toquoc.vn.

Looking at them wagging their tails and jumping up to him whenever he returns home is such a blessing. It helps him forget all the fatigue of the day.

Explaining the decision to raise so many dogs, Duong recounts rescuing his first dogs when he was working with the criminal police in 2017.

On his way home after working late, Duong happened to find out two men on motorbikes carrying two bags. Sensing something was amiss he gave chase. The men threw the bags on the ground and fled the scene.

“When I opened the bags, I saw a lot of dogs inside. There was a pregnant dog, and she was about to give birth but was electrocuted and suffocated. Her body was very weak,” he recalled.

“I decided to bring them back to my house and take care of them. But I could only keep one puppy,” he said.

From then, he decided to search for abandoned dogs to raise them in his house.

Duong said although having experience in accessing dogs and rescuing them, he was sometimes bitten and scratched. After four years, Duong has had to receive six vaccinations against rabies.

“Don't be afraid to come into contact with them,” he said.

Duong said he once stayed with the dog and ate with it, so it felt secure and closed to him.

He said his monthly wage was more than VND10 million (US$437), but it cost VND20 million ($874) to raise his pets. That’s why he has done many different part-time jobs as a cleaner, a maid or a porter to earn money.

The dogs were all very obedient and knew that Duong was the one who saved their lives. Duong said some people came to ask for a pet, he only agreed if he knew that the dogs would be raised as a pet. 

Source: Vietnam News