Animals Voice Sep Oct 2010

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VOICE Animals

“THE POWER OF THE PRESS BELONGS TO THOSE WHO OWN ONE.”

THE ANIMALS VOICE MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED INDEPENDENTLY OF ANY ORGANIZATION.

THE

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2010 MAGAZINE

MAN’SBESTFRIENDneeds allthe friendshe can get



II am a man on a mission, and I can pinpoint the exactmoment when it all began.

On a summer day four years ago, I was a Marine Major

who had volunteered for duty as the Naval Attaché in oneof the world’s poorest nations: Vietnam. I had already spent18 years in a Marine Corps uniform largely because I hadcome to believe very early in my life—in my early teens,in fact—that a life not lived in service to something bigger than self is a life wasted.

Yet, despite having spent a good part of my career build-ing bridges—literally as well as metaphorically—in hopesof preventing war and improving the lives of people all over the world, a piece of the puzzle always seemed to be miss-ing for me, preventing me from ever really enjoying the

peace that comes from knowing that I was doing what I wasmade to do, what I had been born to do.

My life changed forever on June 7, 2006, around 9:30 in

the morning while I was on my way to deliver donated U.S.Defense Department medical equipment to a rural medicalclinic far up in the northwestern corner of Vietnam, not far from the Lao and Chinese borders. Near the end of a ten-

hour drive to a small township named Lai Chau, a lonemotorbike heading in the same direction passed my vehicleon the right hand side. Instinctively, I turned from my con-versation with the driver and glanced out the window; fromwhere I sat in the front passenger seat, I could very clearlysee a wicker basket strapped to the back of the motorbike

and within it a number of dogs, perhaps as many as four or five in a space that might comfortably contain but one. Irecall even today—at this very moment—the look of dreadand fear in the eyes of one of these dogs as our gaze metever so briefly.

I had lived in Vietnam long enough at this point to knowimmediately that these dogs were not bound for a pet storeor on their way to the veterinarian. They were not somefamily’s beloved companions. No, I knew they were headedfor the dinner table and perhaps among the car’s three pas-sengers, two of whom were local Vietnamese staff, I was

the only one who saw them—really saw them—and feltmoved by their plight. I knew these dogs would be draggedfrom their cages, poked, prodded, beaten, and intentionally

tormented and terrified in order to elevate the adrenalin levels in their blood which, as Vietnamese culture informsus, allegedly imparts medicinal libido-enhancing qualitiesto their flesh.

My mind raced. A handful of scenarios passed throughmy head, most of them rationalizations to spare me theuncomfortable realization that these dogs were going to bemurdered for “Thit Cho”—dog meat.

Vietnam has historically not been an animal friendlycountry, nor have the Vietnamese as a people been knownfor their kindness to animals. As a Confucian society, thenotion of kindness to strangers, much less to animals, would

be atypical. Caring about the welfare of animals, other thanin their capacity as implements of labor, means of trans-

portation or as sources of sustenance, is simply not part of the traditional Vietnamese experience or worldview.Most animals in Vietnam are invisible—yet those are the

lucky ones. Anything that moves is likely to be eaten—dogis a well-known delicacy, preferably beaten and torturedup to the moment of death in some horrifically misguided

belief that the flesh will be infused with adrenalin, allegedlymaking the flesh not just more succulent but also moreeffective as an enhancer of male libido. Dogs, however, arenot the only animals on the menu in Vietnamese restaurants.If it crawls, creeps, walks, slithers, swims or flies, it is aptto be found on a plate or in a soup bowl, including pan-golin, monkeys, civets, endangered turtles and, yes, even“baby tiger” (domestic cats). The few real tigers left remain-

ing are on the brink of extinction because of the demand for traditional medicines and bear bile extraction is still widely

practiced at farms throughout the country despite having been made illegal in 2005.

Domesticated “companion” animals, such as dogs andcats, have never faired particularly well in Vietnam. Thetypical lifespan for these species is only a few years, a sadfact that is frequently exacerbated by poor nutrition, a lack of veterinary care, and a surfeit of abuse and neglect. It isstill not uncommon for a family to keep a dog and feed ittable scraps until its usefulness as a home sentry hasreached its end—and then slaughter for a quick, cheap meal.Most cat and dogs in Vietnam are never even afforded thedignity of a name and thus live their tenuous existence

anonymous and invisible to the vast majority of Vietnamese.But back to the dogs. The course of action I eventually

settled upon was to order my driver to overtake the motor-cycle and beckon for the driver to pull to the side of theroad, where I would then magnanimously offer to buy thedogs’ freedom—at whatever the cost. I would then set thedogs free in the countryside where they could fend for themselves and I would spend the last few hours of mydrive to Lai Chau basking in the warm afterglow of self-satisfaction—and then go back to my life pretty much asit had been before.

20 THE ANIMALSVOICE MAGAZINE

A Man on a Mission by Bob Lucius

Above: A similar image to the one Bob Lucius saw that fateful day.

It’s a dog’s legacy



But then I hesitated: As an educated and experiencedspecialist in the area of foreign cultures and languages, serv-ing as a military diplomat in Vietnam and Indonesia, I hadcome to appreciate through trial and effort the notion of cul-tural relativity and I did not want to come across as a cultur-al imperialist—the Ugly American. You may recall that theAmerican military had decades before developed quite a

reputation for not beingsensitive to the culturalrealities of Vietnam—aweakness that hamperedour ability to “win heartsand minds” among theVietnamese. I wondered,“Would my staff think mefoolish?” “Would they

perceive my actions asculturally offensive?”“Would such behavior degrade my influencewith them or eventually

undercut my ability toaccomplish my assignedduties, especially if theycame to believe that I didnot respect their culturaltraditions?”

I turned these thoughts over and over in my head—andwhen I finished my mental gymnastics and looked up againthe motorcycle was long gone—and so was the last chancefor those dogs. My heart was sick and I felt nothing butshame. Shame because I had always prided myself for beingan agile and courageous decision-maker, not afraid to makethe difficult choices come what may—whatever the cost.My career had been built on that reputation, yet at the very

moment when this clear moral question was before me, Ifailed the test. I had never felt more ashamed or cowardlyin my life.

My staff and I afterwards continued on to Lai Chautownship, where later that morning we successfully deliv-ered nearly $1 million dollars worth of medical equipmentto the district clinic. We took group pictures, shook handsand following the formalities the local officials took me tolunch to express their gratitude to me for making the trip.

No, we didn’t eat dog—but the menu was nevertheless asumptuous spread for such a poor community: beef, chick-en, fish, shrimp, and pork—all washed down with lots of

beer and generous portions of the local traditional moon-shine. They bought me lunch and I handed out U.S. Em-

bassy baseball caps to my hosts.When the lunch was over we shook hands, resolved to

meet again, and then my secretary and I proceeded to walk to our car to begin the long two-day journey back to Hanoi

—and that’s when my world changed forever. As we walkedtowards the exit, I glanced to my right—towards the kitchen

—where the cooks were cleaning up and preparing for theevening crowd—and through the doorway I saw a dead dog,skinned and splayed out on the concrete kitchen floor justseconds away from being butchered to be added to all man-ner of soups, stews, and stir-fries for the next round of cus-

tomers. And like a light switch, my life flipped from dark-ness to light.

I’ll never know if the dog I saw dead on the floor in thatramshackle restaurant was the same dog whose eyes metmine on that lonely road in the middle of nowhere, but itdoesn’t really matter. Those eyes were every animal’s eyes,that dog was every animal who had ever been beaten,

abused, exploited, injuredor killed, every creaturewho had paid the price for my appetites, my sense of fashion, my selfishnessover the previous 36 yearsof my life. My choice— and make no mistake— my hesitation to act wasin effect a choice to simplydo nothing cost those dogstheir lives. My cowardicehad led those dogs to thatkitchen floor and to their

deaths. Man’s best friend betrayed for a bowl of soup.

Despite the fact thatI still find the memory of that experience exception-

ally painful and shameful, I view it in every sense of theword as a “gift”—a blessing. It was a moment of awakeningof the kind that eludes most people throughout their entirelives. The haunting memory of that event, painfully searedinto my very consciousness, has become a source of power,inspiration and motivation for me: Had it not happened,I am quite sure that I would not be writing this today.

It is a matter of faith to me that I believe that animals

have souls and that the resurrection at the end of time willalso include them. I believe also that I will see those dogsagain someday—and when I do I will ask their forgiveness.And, as anyone who has ever known a dog knows verywell, they will undoubtedly give it freely and without hesi-tation. Until that day comes, however, I will continue toseek my redemption. I can no longer save those dogs, butthere are billions of other dogs, cats, pigs, cows, horses,sheep and other non-human animals waiting for relief, for rescue, for salvation: More than enough for a lifetime’swork.

I spent the last two years of my assignment in Vietnamtrying to make a difference. I helped the U.S. Departmentof Defense build health clinics and schools in poor commu-

nities; I worked diligently to make Vietnam’s equivalent of the Coast Guard become more effective at saving lives onthe high seas and responding to natural disasters; I managedU.S. State Department programs to help the Vietnameseclean up unexploded ordinance (UXO) left over from theVietnam War; I coordinated some of the largest sea-basedhumanitarian medical assistance missions to visit Vietnamsince the end of the war in 1975; and in my free time I ranan outreach program to improve the quality of life for elder-ly leprosy patients living in remote areas.

I became a vegetarian and yet something was still miss-

THE ANIMALSVOICE MAGAZINE 21Above: A dog peers from a cage in a live animal market; later butchered and sold for meat.



ing. I had not truly begun to make amends for my cow-ardice on the road to Lai Chau.

In August 2008, my wife and I returned to the MontereyPeninsula, where we had first met and fallen in love as stu-dents at the Naval Postgraduate School. She became a pro-fessor at the Naval War College branch at NPS and I beganan assignment as the Assistant Provost for Continuing

Education at DLI. We bought a house in Pacific Grove, Iwent vegan, adopted a second cat, had our first child, andmade the decision that I would end my Marine Corps career here on the Peninsula. It was also a time when I began tolay the groundwork for my return to Vietnam in an effortto right a wrong that I had been part of.

Last year we established the Kairos Coalition, a tax-exempt, non-profit charity based in Pacific Grove with themission of employing innovative and culturally-normativeapproaches to deliver Humane Education in developingcountries. We strive to use traditional creative arts to pro-mote reverence for all life and respect for the dignity of each person, while also fostering an deeper understandingof the power of empathy and mercy in the compassionate

exercise of personal responsibility for achieving a cruelty-free and sustainable world.

Humane EdutainmentThe Kairos Coalition’s approach to humane edu-

cation is called “Humane Edutainment,” a pedagogythat draws primarily from “Forum Theatre,” a typeof participatory theater rooted in Augusto Boal’s“Theatre of the Oppressed.” Forum Theater perform-ances are comprised of a number of short dramaticvignettes that portray ethical dilemmas in which a

protagonist is put into a position of being oppressedor of being an accessory of oppression. Thoroughinteractions within the context of ethical vignettes,

members of the audience are forced to free them-selves from the limitations of merely being specta-tors of an unfolding drama; instead, they are forcedto confront these dilemmas by joining in the actionin order to satisfactorily resolve the crises them-selves. The Humane Edutainment approach facili-tates the experiential learning process and createscognitive conflict, an important vehicle for stimulat-ing behavioral modification.

“Humane Edutainment” also employs anapproach distilled from centuries of Vietnamese cul-tural tradition. Traditional art forms, such as water

puppetry, dance, poetry, painting and improvisationaltheatre, are called upon to convey important Humane

Education messages. This “culturally-normed” approachhas historically been very effective in reaching audiencesof broad composition, ranging from those with little formaleducation to those who are very highly educated. The tradi-tion of roaming teams of performers and minstrels such asthese dates back centuries in Vietnam and China. For exam-

ple, during the 1940s and 1950s, the Vietnam CommunistParty led by Ho Chi Minh relied extensively on traveling“Culture and Drama Teams” to propagandize Marxist-Leninist ideology throughout rural communities.

We are currently working in collaboration with diverse

array of domestic and international public, private, and non- profit stakeholders to coordinate the development and deliv-ery of a Humane Education curriculum in Vietnam using the“Humane Edutainment” methodology. During a nine-month

proof-of-concept pilot (December 2010-August 2011), amobile training team (MTT) comprised of entirely of youthvolunteers will be trained, equipped, and sponsored to con-

duct between Humane Edutainment performances at varioussecondary schools and universities in the Hanoi MunicipalRegion, an area of approximately 1,300 square miles. TheHanoi Municipal Region is comprised of ten urban districts,eighteen rural districts and one township with a total popu-lation of just over six million, including more than threemillion school-age children.

An initial cadre of “performers,” comprised entirelyof volunteers, will participate in a Humane EdutainmentPractitioner Workshop from November 6-12, 2010, that Iwill lead with two other volunteers from the United States.During this workshop participants will gain a more nuancedawareness of issues related to animal welfare and environ-mental ethics in Vietnam through presentations and discus-

sions with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) form various NGOs working in this field in Vietnam and throughout the

Asia Pacific region. They will also learn and practice thefundamental skills of Forum Theater that form the core of

the Humane Edutainment approach. Finally, participants andfacilitators will together explore the use of other traditionalcreative and dramatic arts as potential delivery vehicles for Humane Education.

From December 2010 through August 2011 the MTTwill conduct Humane Edutainment performances at localschools and universities located throughout the HanoiMunicipal Region. Youth participants attending these per-formance events will receive take-away literature, includ-ing fact sheets and a four-page newspaper that addressesHumane Education themes and outlines steps that individ-

22 THE ANIMALSVOICE MAGAZINE

Photos next page: Bob Lucius at work in Vietnam then and now—for the dogs.



THE ANIMALSVOICE MAGAZINE 23

uals can take in their communities to advance Humane Edu-cation objectives at the grassroots level. Five times through-out the pilot, youth participants under the stewardship of volunteer and organizational mentors will be given theopportunity to undertake small-scale community projectswith a Humane Education theme.

Throughout this pilot, youth will be invited, encouraged

and empowered to become more personally involved in fur-thering the Humane agenda by becoming volunteer participants in the Humane Edutainment troupe and/or becomingactive members of community-based youth clubs establishedto carry-out local community projects.

Time TravelSomeone asked me recently to describe in a single sen-

tence the vision of the Kairos Coalition. I answered that Icould do better than that. I could do it in two words: “timetravel.”

That response got a pretty funny look, but if you think about it what we really are talking about is very much rem-iniscent of those 1980’s Back to the Future movies, you

know, the ones with Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd.Let me explain what I mean. In the last decade or so,

westerners like us Americans have really just begun to wakeup and appreciate the horrendous consequences that our pub-lic policies and individual consumer choices over the lastfifty years or so have had on public health, the environment,the social fabric of our communities and families. Dare Ieven mention what horrors we have inflicted on the animalkingdom in the name of our gluttony, greed, envy and sloth?We are now paying a terrible price for our unchecked con-sumer appetites and our stubborn unwillingness to look ahead to where the road we have chosen will inevitably takeus: towards a poisoned environment, crumbling communi-ties, economic instability, a public health crisis, and an in-

creasingly decimated and endangered animal kingdom.But what if you could go back in time, and, like Marty

McFly, personally intervene in order to alter the course of history? Vietnam today stands at the same developmentalcrossroads where the United States stood a half-century ago.They will soon similarly face challenges and decisions aboutthe nature of industrialization and modernization in their owncountry and the choices they make will have consequencesthat will remain with them for generations, whether for goodand ill.

Our hope is that, by introducing culturally-relevantHumane Education programs, and by helping to create avanguard of educated, skilled advocates today, perhaps wecan help Vietnam’s next generations re-imagine different

answers to the most pressing development challenges andhelp them choose ways that could curtail decades of un-necessary and destructive abuse in the name of uniformedand rampant commercial consumption and misguided public

policies. Of course, this is a long-term strategy. For now,I will be happy to save some dogs’ lives.

The future begins now.

Bob Lucius is the Executive Director of the Kairos Coal -ition. To reach him, please email him at [email protected].

One man’s journey...

THE ANIMALSVOICE MAGAZINE 23



And don’t forget to give a copy or our magazine to someone who

should learn about the plight of animals: Your family and friends,doctors and vets, teachers and clergy, legislators and other leaders.

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Graphic. Compelling.

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in 25 years.

And don’t forget to give a copy or our magazine to someone who

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doctors and vets, teachers and clergy, legislators and other leaders.

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