38 dogs stolen in one night, found dead in car's trunk

Ngo Van Phat, 33, has been detained by police of Dong Giang District to be investigated for stealing dogs. Police are also searching for two other people who came with Phat, they said Tuesday.

On Sunday, Phat and two others used tasers to steal dogs from people's homes and all of them were all brought onto a car afterwards.

When the group was stealing more dogs on Monday, they were ambushed by the police and local militia members. Phat was arrested while the others escaped on motorbikes.

A check inside the car's trunk found 38 dead dogs, weighing over 500 kg in total.

Phat confessed he and his accomplices rented the car to carry stolen dogs.

Dog theft is rarely treated as a criminal offense in Vietnam unless the stolen animals are valued at more than VND2 million ($86).

Vietnam consumes an estimated five million dogs a year, second only to China's 20 million.

Many of the dogs that make it to the grill are stolen pets sold to small, unregulated abattoirs and killed in brutal ways.