Motorbike of merry mutts challenges dog meat culture

Dogs are friends, not food: Quy carrying rescued dogs dressed in Santa costume in a tuk tuk along a street in Hanoi. She has devoted her retirement to rescuing homeless pooches so they don’t wind up on dinner plates.

Retired hairdresser Nguyen Thi Kim Quy is an anomaly as she navigates Hanoi’s bustling streets in a pimped-out motorbike tuk-tuk, 13 multi-coloured rescue dogs in tiny Christmas outfits yapping away happily inside.

An estimated five million canines are consumed every year across Vietnam, where dog meat is considered a delicacy, but the South-East Asian nation is trying to phase out consumption that is second only to China.