Machete dog Emma facts are from local rescuer Son, who received the dog in Hue and nursed her after she was struck five times with a machete on March 9th.

The following is written by rescuer Son:

March 9, 2020
At 20:00 Michele Brown from the charity Fight Dog Meat (FDM) contacted me to ask if there was any way to save Emma. I immediately telephoned a number of  friends in Vinh City to ask for help. They quoted me 4,000,000 VND ($172 USD), to rent a taxi car for the 400+ mile drive to Hue.

I informed FDM and they agreed to pay the cost to bring Emma from Nghe An to Hue. Two hours later at 22:00, Ms. Nguyen Hoang Anh Thu in Hue phoned me to save Emma. I made it clear to her that at this time I could not travel such a long distance, but would ask friends in Nghe An to bring Emma for me.  Ms. Anh Thu said there will be friends to help bring Emma to Hue. 22.15 I phoned Emma’s owner Dao Xuan Tai, to ask about her situation.

March 10, 2020
8:30am I phoned Emma’s owner again to talk through the situation, with a friend.
We agreed he would bring Emma to local Vet Hospital in her hometown.
When they arrived at the local vet hospital the clinic refused treatment for Emma.
The veterinarian said the injuries were too severe and he could not guarantee treatment was worthwhile. He turned the dog away!

Conversations took place deciding I will bring Emma to Hue so I began preparing for Emma to arrive I contacted the doctor to be on stand by for Emma’s arrival, still hours away.  At 19.45 the dog arrived with the owner by taxi and was greeted by myself, alone. See Video 1 below.

After receiving Emma I began helping the doctor treat Emma from 20.00 to 22.30.
She was under anesthetic while her critical wounds were treated. She had two deep machete open wounds across her neck and back. Her open facial injuries affected her eye socket and nasal cavity. Her life threatening injuries were open for infection and a cause of deep worry.

After the procedure was finished we sat down together for a discussion: myself, Dao Xuan Tai (Emma’s owner), along with Ms. Nguyen Hoang Anh Thu and her student (who both arrived later), and one of my assistants.  Emma’s owner agreed to give me 15 days to work on saving Emma’s life. I said I would find a way to cover the costs during her treatment. Even if they only contributed 100k vnd, I’d would have been happy with that. I will not ask for community help for Emma and so far I have not done so.

Since Emma arrived I have worked alongside doctors to actively try and save Emma. Her condition was so bad and her wounds so unhygenic. She’d suffered severe blood loss from her injuries. She had many ticks over her body! [Emma tested positive for E.cannis blood parasites, which are caused from ticks.]

March 11, 2020
The community saw a post from Mr. Dam Quang Duc inferring people hired me to treat Emma. I responded to the post requesting they tell the truth, which they ignored.

March 14, 2020
To clarify facts on Emma’s case I made a public post on March 14. In response they strongly requested Emma be returned to the owner, ending any further medical treatment to her. I did not agree! Emma was in a life threatening phase of her treatment. She needed uninterrupted treatment to ensure she continued to recover.

Ms. Nguyễn Hoàng Anh Thư then filed a complaint with Hue City Police demanding Emma be returned to her owner. At the police station, I explained to police that Emma needed more time to continue her necessary medical treatment. Ms. Nguyễn Hoàng Anh Thư reluctantly allowed me to continue treating Emma. I invited Emma’s owner to visit her and see her progress. He declined my invitation.

Taking advantage of my busy work schedule at the time, Ms. Nguyễn Hoàng Anh Thư and Emma’s owner Dao Xuan Tai lied to my employee to enter my facility to access Emma late at night.  They trespassed on my property and secretly recorded a video of Emma inside my facility without my permission. They publicly posted the video. When I confronted them they made no apology to me. I do not know if they were planning to steal Emma or not, but my staff followed them closely until they left.

March 19, 2020
Emma was taken from me and handed to the owner in front of  Hue City police officers,
in front of witnesses at the police station. Emma’s owner Dao Xuan Tai voluntarily paid Emma’s (then) medical expenses of 13,465,000 VND ($570 USD.) This is the amount I had already paid during the course of her ongoing treatment.

Due to the earlier complaint filed with Hue City Police by Ms. Nguyễn Hoàng Anh Thư, the payment between Emma’s owner and myself was videoed in front of witnesses. Witnesses included two Hue City Police Officers, a journalist, Mr. Duy Phuc (the lady’s friend) and Ms. Nguyễn Hoàng Anh Thư. The witnesses signed the paper and did a red ink fingerprint on the document in front of Hue City Police. [The red ink fingerprint  is a Vietnamese custom for important documents.] I did not at any time intimidate or force them to do the red ink fingerprint of the document. See Video 4 below and Video 5 below.

March 20, 2020
Emma’s wounds were 80 to 90% healed. Stitches should not be removed for a further 5 to 7 days. Her eating was good. She’s bright and alert. Her blood parasites are still under treatment. Emma’s medical condition was chronicled on paper. Clear details of her medical condition were read and signed by the owner and witnesses the day she was taken back by the owner.

Fight Dog Meat (FDM)
After many posts in the Vietnamese community suggesting the owner slashed the dog FDM messaged me asking if this is true, because they were very worried.
I told FDM I am not sure of the situation so we did not discuss it any further.
I told FDM Emma is being cared for very well.
FDM discussed with me if the owner would allow Emma to fly to Saigon for better medical treatment. And for FDM to help Emma find a better life.
Before I sent the photograophs to FDM I had written consent from Emma’s owner, through Facebook messenger.
The FDM posts on their page were written with consent.

Expenses
March 11
I received 4,000,000 VND ($175 USD) from FDM for the taxi car to drive Emma over 400+ miles from Nghe An to Hue.
I returned it to FDM immediately the same day because Mr. Phuc paid for the taxi car transporting Emma to Hue.

March 14
FDM donated $ 290 USD with the intention of giving Emma a blood transfusion and other treatment costs
FDM donated $290 USD with the intention for Emma to have a blood transfusion.

March 20
Emma’s owner Dao Xuan Tai voluntarily reimbursed me for the cost of treatment and veterinary services.

March 21
I returned $ 290 USD to FDM to support other cases in Vietnam.
Owner Dao Xuan Tai has agreed to reimburse me for the sponsor’s dog and FDM money is repaid to them.

In my opinion if you’re a true dog lover you would let me concentrate on caring for Emma instead of stirring up trouble to stress me out during this time. I am not sure what their intention is by creating such nonsense.

April 4
Since April 4, 2020, Ms. Nguyen Hoang Anh Thu, Julia Thuy Nguyen, Mr. Dam Quang Duc, and Mr. Pham Duy Phuc, have ben spreading untruths throught the community withthe inteent to defame and slander my repuation and FDM’s repuatuon.

I am writing in depth to restore the honor and dignity of myself and FDM.

Defamation and demeaning of my reputation and FDM’s reputation violates Decree 174/2013 / ND-CP.
Bringing my family and private life into this is also wrong.
Unauthorized entry into my business establishment violated Article 158 of the 2015 Penal Code

With everything which has been outlined above I do not need to say anything more.
The community can decide between what’s right and wrong.
Draw your own conclusion!
Thank you for reading.

To read Son’s original text in Vietnamese: click here.

Video1: Emma when she first arrived to Son, in Hue.

Video 2: Emma recovering at Son’s facility.

Video 3: Emma in her recovery at Son’s facility.

Video 4: Emma’s owner signing one of the police handover papers.

Video 5: Emma’s response at seeing her owner again, the day he took her away.

Thank you for reading,

Michele Brown
Founder,
Fight Dog Meat
Registered Charity.