INTERNATIONAL: A Vietnamese couple whose beloved dogs were culled last year while they were in Covid-19 quarantine, hopes to get over their personal trauma and heartbreak by adopting sick and unwanted puppies.

Last October during a major outbreak in Ho Chi Minh City, local labourer, 50 year old, Pham Minh Hung, and his wife, Nguyen Thi Chi Em who lived outside of the city have decided to leave and go to another province with their 15 dogs. But while on the road, the couple were found to be positive and were bundled away to a quarantine facility. Authorities put down the dogs just hours later.

On that day, when they were taken away to quarantine, Em has said, they found out from the internet at around 2 p.m. that the authorities had killed their dogs. She has said, it was so sad, she felt so helpless and hearbroken and cried a lot from missing their dogs. Her husband has comforted her and has promised her that they will raise other puppies.

Authorities have maintained that the dogs and other pets brought in by people who were quarantined were killed, out of concerns that the animals could create unsanitary conditions and exacerbate the outbreak, especially since there was no one to look after them.

Local media has said the killings took place without authorities discussing or informing the owners, which sparked anger across the country, as well as triggered an outpour of public sympathy and donations to the couple.

In Vietnam, dogs are a delicacy and the couple spent most of their earnings saving dogs bound for slaughter houses and restaurants before the unfortunate event. They also adopted sick dogs abandoned by their owners and gave them the medicine they needed.

The couple have now returned to their home in Long An province in southern Vietnam and are building up a new pack. They now have seven dogs now which are mostly unwanted dogs from around their neighbourhood and are prepared to do everything possible to save them if their lives are endangered.

“We would go into hiding in the jungle if that would save them. I will see it through," Em says. "I won’t let them be killed again because I cannot go through such heartbreak a second time."

Vietnam has had more than three million infections since the start of the pandemic and nearly 40,000 deaths.

^{PHOTO: LOCAL VIETNAMESE COUPLE PLAYING WITH, DRESSING UP, FEEDING AND HAVING MEAL WITH ADOPTED DOGS IN HOUSE / SOUNDBITES FROM COUPLE / EXTERIOR OF HOUSE / TRAFFIC ON ROAD}