The animal rights group PETA has released an investigation claiming to have exposed the horrific systematic abuse of frogs in Vietnam’s frog meat industry. Investigators obtained footage that appears to show workers routinely mutilating, skinning and dismembering conscious frogs with pincers and scissors. Workers were also recorded putting frogs in bags and dumping them in tubs of ice water before slaughter, which PETA says is an ineffective stunning method according to leading veterinary associations.
Mimi Bekhechi, PETA’s campaign adviser, said, “Frogs endure unbearable suffering when they are cut open, skinned alive and dismembered for their paws, fully conscious. PETA is calling on everyone to help stop this horrific mistreatment — and prevent the suffering of frogs — by going vegan. Under Vietnam’s Law on Animal Health (2015), individuals and organizations responsible for animals, including pets and livestock, have a duty of care. Owners and organizations must also account for the different needs of species — which means the law recognizes animals’ sentience. These frog-breeding facilities, however, seem to operate with callous disregard for the animals’ pain and suffering, brazenly violating national law. “The four facilities visited by investigators were industrialized places that should have had processes in place [but] workers were regularly documented pulling living frogs out of their skins. What PETA Asia documented was described to investigators as best practices.”
According to a 2022 Pro Wildlife report, Vietnam supplies around 20% of the European frog leg market. This country’s industry of farming frogs for meat has been expanding since the 2000s. The report states that in 2010, “the Vietnamese government recognized the potential of the frog farming industry as a food source and poverty alleviation strategy and included frog farming as an element to expand in the aquaculture industry by 2020.”
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