Woman evicted for keeping 19 dogs in HCMC apartment

Phuong, 35, the owners of the 19 dogs, said she had been raising dogs for a decade now and has adopted more and more over the years.

Early this year, she rented an apartment of 100 m2 at River Panorama building in District 7 to live with the dogs.

She claimed that she took good care of them and they were always clean and did not create any odor.

She said the dogs only create noise whenever it comes to eating time as they "were excited."

However, her neighbors said the dogs usually barked loudly in the afternoon and late at night, which disturbed them, especially during their sleep.

The neighbors said they had complained with the management board of the building several times but no improvements were made for over three months.

They had also confronted Phuong on different occasions to the two sides had quarreled several times because of the dogs.

"It’s ok if she keeps one or two dogs, but there are way too many and it is really noisy," one of the neighbors said.

As regulated, those who live at River Panorama are allowed to have pets.

However, Phuong was deemed to have too many dogs, and the building's management board has requested her to either reduce the number or move out.

As a final straw, the owner of the apartment that she rented from announced plans at short notice to end her contract on Tuesday.

As a protest, Phuong moved out on Tuesday evening and left all the 19 dogs in cages along with her furniture in front of the apartment building.

19 dogs are left in cages in front of River Panorama apartment building in HCMC's District 7, April 3, 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Minh Khuong

Residents at the building then had to take care of the dogs to make sure they had water and food and were protected from the scorching sun.

It was not until Wednesday afternoon that Phuong returned to check on the dogs.

She told Lao Dong newspaper that she was looking for a new place to live with the 19 dogs and that the landlord and the apartment building's management board gave her zero time to do so, which gave her no choice but to leave the dogs there.

In the meantime, local authorities said a private spa for pets has taken in all 19 dogs and agreed to keep them for one week.