Man drives car into suspect dog thieves, kills one

Le Hoang Anh, 23, and two of his friends were detained by Dak Lak police Tuesday pending investigation of murder.

On April 23, Anh and his friends were at a restaurant when they saw 19-year-old Duy and 22-year-old Long riding a motorbike, with people shouting nearby that a dog was stolen. Anh decided to follow the motorbike with his car.

Anh hit the motorbike from behind with the car, causing Duy and Long to be tossed aside. Duy died on the spot and Long was injured. The motorbike was badly damaged.

Long admitted that he and Duy were trying to steal dogs and cats that night. The car chase and death happened after the duo managed to steal three cats.

Anh said he regretted that his action had unwittingly caused a death.

"I only planned to hit the motorbike so that the suspects could be caught by the police; I didn't expect that it would kill someone."

Vietnam consumes an estimated five million dogs a year, second only to China's 20 million. Many dogs served at restaurants are stolen pets sold to small, unregulated abattoirs, reports say.

Dog theft has become so common that many residents would turn themselves into vigilantes. There have been reports of dog thieves heavily beaten by angry mobs.