The Perils Of Pet Food In Thailand
(Posted on Monday, January 24, 2022)
Cruising on an authentic ” pirate looking ship”, has the perks of limited passengers and listening to tails of previous voyages told by our captain. A memorable story is one that took place off the coast of Malaysia. As common as we see anchored yachts in the states, anchored bamboo rafts with thatched huts can be seen floating in clusters when we cruised further from the coast. Curious about the floating homes, our Captain was provoked to tell a sad tale.
The rafts are fishing vessels, with the purpose of collecting squid and shrimp in huge nets. The catch is sold to pet company’s in the United Sates ( I suppose around the world), to make canned pet food. Profit is substantial selling to pet food companies, as opposed to restaurants or food suppliers.
We are told a story setting us back to the captains youth, when he worked as an apprentice for a sailing company. Finding himself with an invitation to inspect these bungalows with a coast gaurd patrol ship, he took the opportunity to break away from mundane ship chores.
Approaching one of the floating Bungalows aboard the Coast Gaurd Vessel, the inspectors could see a lot of scurrying around by more than 30 occupants. Presming they were busy collecting their harvest , the coast gaurd crew boarded the ship for routine inspection.
Expecting the possibility of finding contraband drugs, they were shocked to find human slaves. Tied to a pole with a metal collar around their neck, skinny men looked at them astonished in the dark room. The men rescued these slaves, but we were sad to hear this was not uncommon practice in the Malaysian waters.
One passenger noted it is punishable by death to have an illegal firearm in Malaysia. We were curious what the repercussions were for slavery. This could be a ” Tall Tale”, but never the less is a sad story.
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