Man jailed, fined Bt35,000

Sakon Nakhon Provincial Court yesterday sentenced a man to four months in jail and a Bt35,000 fine for capturing and detaining dogs for sale.

After a crackdown on dog traders in Sakon Nakhon's Tha Rae district last week, Boonthai Wannaphrom confessed that he had detained 5,000 dogs to be sold to buyers in Vietnam. He was initially sentenced to eight months in jail and Bt75,000 in fines, but the court decided to halve his sentence because of his confession.

Boonthai was also found to have violated the Animal Epidemic Act, as he did not feed the dogs enough or protect them from disease.

Police are looking for evidence to take action against a local politician who is believed to be involved in the illegal dog trade. They are also hunting for people who are allegedly providing space to detain dogs before they are sold for their meat.