GRAPHIC IMAGE WARNING SOT: Yod Doi, Watchdog Thailand “They kill the dog by hit the head or cut the throat off. And then they separate meat and skin. Thailand people is very, very good technician to take the skin off. Very beautiful skin.” ((PICS - Dog bones in forest, Yod Doi in vision)) ROSS VELTON ASKING QUESTION OFF CAMERA “So, good for the dogs?” ((PICS - Yod Doi in vision)) SOT: Yod Doi, Watchdog Thailand “No. Good for the human. To sell the nice dog skin.” ((PICS - Yod Doi in vision, dogs in cages)) NARRATION: Ross Velton This is Ross Velton reporting for the New York Times The dog trade in Thailand has been going on for decades (GOES BACK CENTURIES?) [BASED ON WHAT ONE OF THE POLICEMEN SAID IN TOM’S PIECE] Some The dogs are usually strays taken from the many living on Thailand’s streets. Then they’re sometimes (BRED, OTHERS ARE CAPTURED. BUT MANY ARE) [I’VE NOT HEARD OF DOGS BEING BRED FOR EATING IN THAILAND. MOST SEEM TO HAVE BEEN CAPTURED, GIVEN AWAY - AND SOMETIMES STOLEN. HOW ABOUT MOVING THE BIT ABOUT STRAYS AT THE END OF THE PIECE UP TO HERE?] smuggled across the Mekong River and on to Vietnam, where eating their meat is popular. Others are being killed in Thailand itself, often just for their skin. ((PICS: Dogs in cages being unloaded from a truck, boats on Mekong River, dog bones in forest)) SOT: Praprut Thanthongdee, Farmer “Dog skin tastes like pig skin, but it’s not fatty. It’s delicious, that’s why I eat it. Beef or pork can’t compete with dog meat.” ((PICS - Praprut stroking his pet dog, Praprut in vision.)) NARRATION: Ross Velton But while Praprut Thanthongdee loves eating dogs, he also loves Money, his pet. In most of Thailand, dogs are seen more as friends than food. But Tha Rae in northeastern Thailand has many Vietnamese immigrants. There, It’s far from the capital, Bangkok, and butchers sell dog meat without much little government interference. Here Dog Jerky sells for costs the equivalent of SEVEN DOLLARS A POUND. And now, it’s the centre of a growing trade in dog skin . ((PICS - Praprut stroking his dog, Buddhist pilgrimage, Tha Rae road sign, street in Tha Rae, shop selling dog meat, tanner treating dog skin)) SOT: John Dalley, Soi Dog Foundation “A lot of the skin we know is exported, particularly to Japan for musical instruments, China for the production of golf gloves. It sounds pretty gruesome, but we know the skin from male dogs’ testicles is extremely flexible, has a tacky consistency and apparently makes the best golf gloves. ((PICS - Dogs in crates on airport trolleys, man playing golf, dog with testicles)) SOT: Chaleaw Chaihung, Thai police “I want to help dogs. It’s deep down in my heart. I love them. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s a feeling.” ((PICS - Dog with half a face, dog sitting on a pile of sand, dog sitting in a stream, Chaleaw in vision)) These two police officers are part of Thailand’s new efforts to stop a trade which has been tolerated for a long time. the new military government’s drive to crack down on the long tolerated trade. They’re under pressure from the country’s pet-owners and other groups who think the dog business is cruel. Its being pressured by middle and higher income pet owning thai’s, and also shunning unwanted attention from the West and groups opposing what many feel is barbaric. [I’VE REWRITTEN THIS PARAGRAPH, WHILST TRYING TO KEEP YOUR ORIGINAL MEANING. THE POLICE UNIT WAS OPERATING WELL BEFORE THE GOVERNMENT CRACKDOWN ON CORRUPTION ETC] ((PICS - Chaleaw and Lamai in forest)) ((PICS - Yod Doi treating her sick dog, Yod Doi in vision)) SOT: Chaleaw Chaihung, Thai police “We rely on tip-offs. And Watchdog Thailand will coordinate with us.” ((Chaleaw and Lamai in forest, Chaleaw in vision)) ROSS VELTON ASKING OFF CAMERA “Who was that?” ((PICS - Yod Doi finishing a phone call)) SOT Yod Doi, Watchdog Thailand “The police, the police who just arrest a dog-smuggling truck for us. And we can rescue eleven dogs today, now“. ((PICS - Yod Doi finishing phone call, dogs in cages)) Some dogs aren’t so lucky. These ended They usually end up here, in a forest near Tha Rae. [MODIFIED THIS SINCE I’M NOT CERTAIN THE MEAT IN THE TRUCK CAME FROM DOGS KILLED IN THA RAE. THEY PROBABLY DID, BUT I’M NOT SURE] ((PICS - Police seizure of dog meat, forest in Tha Rae)) SOT: Chaleaw Chaihung, Thai police “These bones came from dogs which traders in Tha Rae brought from other provinces. They slaughtered the dogs to get the meat. Then they took off the skins and started the tanning process.” ((PICS - Dog bones in forest, knife lying next to dog meat, Chaleaw in forest with dog bones)) Illegal tanneries have popped up to process turn the dog skins into a saleable leather which can be sold. ((PICS - Still photo of a tanner)) SOT: Chaleaw Chaihung, Thai Police “This is an old tannery which used to do that work. They would lay the dog skin like this. Then they would scrape it like this to get the fat out of the skin.” ((PICS - Rain falling on ground, exterior and interior of tannery, Chaleaw showing the tanning process, pictures from the arrest including a tanner’s knife and dog skins in buckets)) SOT: John Dalley, Soi Dog Foundation “At a raid, a couple of months ago actually, on a tannery in northeastern Thailand, we confiscated a lot of skins. “As you can see, it looks nothing like the poor dog this came from - nothing like dog skin. It actually reminds me more of cardboard. ((PICS - Dog skins in buckets after the raid, John Dalley in vision, John Dalley with dog skin)) I Soi Dog Foundation is a Thai charity supporting the fight against the dog trade. It sent the skin to a lab to confirm where it came from. ((PICS - Soi Dog Foundation sign, John Dalley with dog skin)) SOT: John Dalley, Soi Dog Foundation “And the lab were clearly able to detect canine DNA in this... from this actual sample.” ((PICS - John Dalley with dog skin)) SOT: Takolrat Chumyen “I lost him in the morning, in May.. I still dream every night he comes back home. And I’m very happy. In my dream, I can touch him again.” ((PICS - Dog walking towards Takolrat, Takolrat stroking dog, Takolrat in vision)) NARRATION: Ross Velton Takolrat Chumyen thinks Hector was stolen by dog traders. ((PICS - Takolrat looking at picture of Hector on her phone)) SOT: John Dalley, Soi Dog Foundation “Many of these dogs are stolen pets. You can tell they were pets - [talking to dog] in fact, give me your paw.” ((PICS - John with dog)) NARRATION: Ross Velton Others come from the large number of stray dogs in Thailand. [MOVED TO TOP OF PIECE] Yod Doi is running a poster campaign giving money to people who report the traders, butchers and skinners. Her phone sometimes rings in the middle of the night with a coded message ((PICS - Dogs in shelter, Yod Doi walking, campaign posters, Yod Doi talking on phone)) SOT Yod Doi, Watchdog Thailand “Listen, listen the ‘Voice from the Heaven.’” ((PICS - Yod Doi in vision)) (NOT SURE ABOUT THIS PART I’D LIKE TO KEEP IT FOR THESE REASONS: 1) I THINK USING YOD DOI TO BOOKEND THE PIECE WORKS QUITE NICELY. 2) YOD DOI PROVIDES MUCH OF THE EMOTIONAL INPUT YOU REQUESTED IN AN EARLIER EDIT. 3) I THINK THE VOICE OF HEAVEN IDEA IS QUITE EMOTIVE (AND I THINK IT’S A GOOD TITLE FOR THE VIDEO) ) Thats the code to say there’s been alerting her to another successful operation. ((PICS - Yod Doi and her husband feeding dogs)))) SOT Yod Doi, Watchdog Thailand And I just ask ‘how many?’ And when he says sometimes, ‘two hundred, three hundred,’ or ‘two trucks,’ and then after that I can sleep with a happy time.” ((PICS - Yod Doi in vision and Yod Doi feeding dogs))