Bad news for critter owners in Southeast Asia: The Vietnamese government has banned the sale and ownership of hamsters!
Apparently, hamster ownership has become a fad ("hamster clubs" are pretty popular), and the government has imposed the law from the fear that unregulated furries could be harmful to public health. What that exact harm is appears unknown, at least according to one government official.Yet, owners now face a serious dilemma: destroy your pet or face a fine of 30 million dong (about $1,900).
Wow. $1,900 is no chump change! It will certainly make people think twice about buying a hamster...or it may just make them get creative about hiding them. But I really don't see pet owners killing their pets, so the worst-case scenario will probably be pet hamsters being let loose into the wild—which actually could become a problem. I think the Vietnamese government really needs to rethink this situation and come up with a better solution! ∞
Gah!! Cross Vietnam off my vacation list. How could they??
ReplyDeletePoor fuzzies..