The News Minute | September 15, 2014 | 11:28pm IST

Bangkok : The people of Vietnam slaughter at least five million dogs for food in a year, a figure only surpassed by China in the entire Asian continent, Vietnamese media reported Monday.

"We believe the real number (of dogs killed) must be larger, because no Asian country has regulations or laws that control the dog meat trade," Tuoi Tre News quoted the coordinator of the Vietnam chapter of the Asia Canine Protection Alliance (ACPA), Le Duc Chinh as saying.

The Vietnamese market gets its supply of dogs from breeding farms and smuggling from neighbouring countries like Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, according to the animal rights group. 

China is the only Asian country with a higher consumption of dog meat, with 10 million canines slaughtered every year, according to ACPA data.

IANS / EFE